Flames of a Night Sky
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: After losing his mother, Tsuna is adopted into the Takamachi Family. But not even he could have anticipated what finding that old book in his mother's things would lead to, never mind becoming the unofficial little brother of the Varia's Boss, Xanxus. At least he can say his life will never be boring!
1. Chapter 1

He couldn't stop crying, but for the first time in a long time there was an adult there to comfort him and actually mean it.

His mama had fallen sick, and at first it had seemed like nothing. But as the weeks turned to months, she soon had to be hospitalized. It was to the point she had to call in an old friend of hers from another town to help.

Tsuna found himself staying with his mother's friend Momoka and her husband Shiro until his mama got better, because she didn't really have many friends in Namimori who could handle another child. Especially not a Dame like him.

And now she was gone. He would never see his Mama again.

Shiro held the distraught boy, discreetly scanning the crowd for a face that should have _been there_. He knew Nana had sent word to her husband she was in the hospital, but not once had Iemitsu come to take his son so his wife could have focused on recovering.

And now he didn't even show up for the funeral.

Momoka looked furious but held her tongue.

Nana had been thrown out of her family years ago, so there was little chance they would take the child in. And the contact information Iemitsu gave his wife was either outdated or false...the number alone was disconnected and every letter he sent to the address was "return to sender".

Tsuna was all alone, and there was no way a small child like him would be able to handle living in that house by himself. He had enough difficulty with the local bullies that had started targeting him when he was five.

All Shiro knew was that Iemitsu had done...something...to his son without his wife's consent, much less bothering to ask how she felt. He simply did it without even consulting her or explaining what was going on. And almost immediately after, Tsuna's personality went from happy and cheerful to absolutely skittish.

The only reason she hadn't divorced him for it on the spot was because whatever he did to _her_ son hadn't been intimate in nature.

Tsuna cried until he was all out of tears to shed, but that was only because he hadn't eaten or drank anything the moment he realized his mother was gone. He at least had the minor comfort of being able to say goodbye and knowing she heard him.

Shiro shared a look with his wife. There was no way in good conscience they could leave this poor child alone, and Nanoha had grown very lonely while he was recovering from his own battles. Having a new little brother would make her happy, especially since she could finally be the "big" sister.

Once the service was over, Shiro noted with disgust no one even thought to try and approach Tsuna to offer comfort. It was like the entire town thought he was "no good" and his mother deserved to die before her time.

Something about Namimori was off.

He bent down to Tsuna's level. The boy was so sad, but he still had some hope in his heart.

"Tsuna, how would you like to live with me and Momoka? I know you loved your mother very much, but she would never want you to be sad forever and I'm sure she'd be happy if you came to live with us. I know Nanoha has always wanted a little brother or sister to play with," said Shiro gently.

"But I'm Dame!" he said, crying.

Shiro hugged the child, letting him get it out.

"I don't know who started that horrible name, but you are _not_ a no-good. Would you like to come live with us?" he asked gently.

Tsuna nodded miserably. He missed his mama, but the Takamachi were really nice and Nanoha never made fun of him for having so much trouble with his schoolwork.

He looked around, and became even more depressed.

"Papa never came."

"I know little one. And if Iemitsu ever shows himself around town again he's going to regret that very much," promised Shiro. "We won't let him take you away when he didn't even bother to show up for your Mama."

"You promise? Papa wasn't very nice to Mama and he took the pretty fire away," sniffed Tsuna.

Shiro blinked, before inwardly cursing Iemitsu even more.

If that fool dared to show up to find his son, Shiro was going to kill him. No questions asked. There was only one explanation that fit why Tsuna's behavior changed that involved pretty fire, and it involve Flames.

Only a complete idiot who didn't care a damn about the consequences of his actions would be stupid enough to seal a child! Especially one so young!

Tsuna was sad for months, but Nanoha was a force of nature. She wouldn't let him wallow in the fact he had been orphaned (considering Iemitsu's attitude towards his family, he might as well be an orphan) and permanently relocated to Uminari. She was a very protective big sister who didn't tolerate anyone daring to call Tsuna anything that came close to "Dame" or it's variants. The last time a bullied tried, they got their ass handed to them and their parents had a stern talking to by Momoka and Shiro.

She also explained things in a more patient and gentle manner than his teachers ever did. Tsuna had been homeshooled until he was five, so he was behind the other children since Nana didn't really teach him anything.

Children were quick to pick out the weak and slow of the pack, and so they had tormented the poor child relentlessly and gave him the awful nickname of Dame Tsuna. Now though, they were too terrified of his big sister to bother him.

Gradually, Tsuna began to smile again.

And the day he was brave enough to call Momoka and Shiro "Kaa-san" and "Tou-san", their small family was finally complete. Momoka had squealed extra loud and hugged the stuffing out of her youngest son, glad he was finally healing from the loss of Nana.

* * *

Iemitsu's Hyper Intuition had been going off ever since he stepped foot in Japan. He had finally bothered to take time out of his schedule to visit Nana and Tsuna, and found it odd that the post card he sent was "return to sender". Like there was no one to accept the letter.

Because of his bad feeling, he dragged Oregano with him just in case.

What he found in the house made him stop in his tracks in shock.

The door was locked and there was a thick coat of dust over everything. And all the furniture clearly had covers over them. He went to his son's room, to see if Tsuna was there, only to find it empty of any personal effects. His wife's room had been neatly packed up along with her photos.

The fridge was bare, the water and power turned off, and it was clear that the house had been empty of anyone living in it for some time.

It wasn't until he went to visit someone he knew his wife ordered from frequently because they sold tea that Tsuna really liked that he got an idea of something bad had happened.

"Finally dared to show your sorry ass in town again, did you?" said Tsuyoshi glaring at him.

"Where is Nana and Tsuna?" he demanded, glaring right back.

"What do you care? You didn't show up for the funeral and we tried multiple times to contact you."

Iemitsu's heart stopped.

"Funeral?"

Tsuyoshi spat in his general direction.

"Your wife is gone and so is your son."

Denial clawed in his heart. His wife and son were dead? How? When?

Tsuyoshi looked at Iemitsu's departure with disgust and fury. The man dared to show his face now, after all this time? He took out his phone and called a familiar number. He worried about little Tsuna, so he checked in often. Besides, Shiro could at least commiserate some of the headaches dealing with running a restaurant, and he had offered to teach Takeshi the basics of handling a sword so that he might one-day inherit the family style.

He wouldn't learn anything of Shiro's style, but he could at least learn enough not to get himself killed.

* * *

 _With Iemitsu..._

His heart was ripped out of his chest from shock and fear. Then Oregano returned with news that at least gave him hope.

"Tsuna is alive. Nana died of late stage ovarian cancer."

He breathed a sigh of relief. Thank god...he still had a son.

"Where is he?"

"I'm afraid getting the records are impossible. Whoever took him in made it clear you were declared 'dead' for all intents and purposes and had the files permanently sealed. I was only able to find a number that leads to Uminari," said Oregano bluntly. She glared at him. "Maybe if you hadn't dismissed letters from an unknown sender in Japan you might have made it in time for your wife's funeral."

She _knew_ Iemitsu had seen the letters, but because he didn't recognize the name or address he had them destroyed without opening and reading them.

Well now his stupidity and carelessness had come home to roost in the worst way. And he couldn't send CEDEF into tracking his son, because it was owned by a family in the area who didn't tolerate yakuza, much less Mafia.

Oh, a few yakuza sent their children because the school system was very good, but the was no organized crime allowed.

Any action into that area would be a massive headache and would involve a lot of cover up.

His best bet would be to send Lal in to infiltrate, or if he was really lucky, Reborn.

Only if hell froze over would he _dare_ ask Mammon for help.

Hell froze over. Whoever took in Tsunayoshi Sawada apparently knew Iemitsu would eventually bother to look and had hidden their tracks very well. They also apparently knew of the Arcobelano, or perhaps Reborn stood out too much.

Lal certainly didn't have the patience for looking.

Having to approach Mammon of the Varia was like pulling teeth with pain amplifying drugs in his system and having it go on for hours. Not only did the damn Mist officer gouge the hell out of him, but since they were currently paired with the psychotic brat he had to deal with paying Belphegor as well!

Worse, Xanxus had found out what he was doing there and if he read that look right the man had become openly interested for whatever reason.

So now Mammon had been let loose to find out who had his son.

God he hated the Varia and he couldn't stand Xanxus.

* * *

 _With the Varia_...

Finding Tsuna was tragically easy. Iemitsu was just an idiot and it had taken a single lead from the restaurant his wife had frequented to find a number that lead straight to the boy.

However Xanxus, in a fit of boredom decided to go see the brat himself to find out the unedited reason why Iemitsu never realized his wife was dying or that his son had been taken in by someone else. For someone who valued Family over his own pride, that sort of stupidity was something that royally pissed him off to no end.

As if he didn't have enough reasons to hate the idiot.

He found the brat helping out with a minor task in a bakery that was positioned in a good spot. He seemed perfectly happy with a girl roughly his own age in twin-tails.

Who looked right at him and knew he wasn't supposed to be there.

Xanxus could only approve of Shiro and his immediate response. He didn't let the kids out of sight, but he also didn't turn his back on the Varia leader.

"I take it he finally decided to show up?" he asked, not looking pleased at all.

"He's a fu..." started Xanxus, before the man's wife hit him with a ladle.

"There are children present. If you must swear do it in languages they won't immediately recognize," she scolded him.

He blinked, before a smirk appeared on his face.

"Yes ma'am."

"Shishishi... the boss got told off," said Belphegor in passable Japanese.

The woman looked at the "prince" and did something that got her in the boy's good books, along with Mammon.

She promptly had them sit down at a table and treated both like they had brains of their own. She then sat down a strawberry cake cut into appropriate slices and plastic forks to eat them with, which drew the two brats behind the counter out. It didn't take long for them to completely ignore the adults in favor of making possible friends.

Not that Mammon was a child, but even he knew the fake baby liked strawberries.

Something seemed to ease in the two 'civilians', likely because Mammon had used him as a way to get around town faster instead of the Prince brat.

"If Iemitsu shows his face in town or tries to take Tsuna from us, I will not hesitate to kill him. Mafiaso or not," said Shiro flatly.

Xanxus eyed the man, before an evil grin came on his face. The man before him was Quality. Retired Quality, but still Quality.

"Mind if I watch? The fact he didn't even bother to open up a letter telling him his wife was dying only cemented the fact he's Stupid. And pissing him off by making sure he can't screw up his son would just make my day."

"The bastard had someone put a Flame seal on him when he was five," Shiro informed him, gauging Xanxus' reaction. Sensing the spike of barely contained anger, he knew he had an ally against Iemitsu.

"How old?"

"Tsuna clearly remembers an old man coming with Iemitsu shortly before his mother started coughing, and she went into to the hospital when he was about five years and three months."

It was official, Iemitsu could go screw himself. No child deserved to have one of those seals on them, especially so young! What the hell was he thinking?!

"Shishishi...the prince wants another slice."

"Well you're going to have to share," scolded the red head with a firm voice. He went to pick up another, only to have his hand slapped by the girl.

"Mu. Behave Belphegor or I'll tell the cooks not to make your favorites for a month."

Belphegor pouted...but there was a clear respect for the little girl who didn't even bat an eye when he pulled out on of his knives.

"No knives at the table unless they're plastic! It's hard enough cleaning blood from the training floor," scolded Momoka. The boy wasn't her son but she wasn't going to let him play with sharp objects when he was supposed to behave in her restaurant. "If you use that for anything other than cutting the cake you'll be put in time out, and I mean it."

The Prince brat pouted even more, but put it away.

"Mu. Do you mind if I have the recipe for this cake? It's so hard to find someone who gets the ratio of strawberries right," asked Mammon politely.

Momoka beamed at the Mist.

"Of course, since you asked so nicely."

"Shishishi..."

Tsuna, who had finished his two allotted slices, walked up to Xanxus with more curiosity than fear.

"Who are you mister?" he asked. It was like looking at a skittish kitten, one who was only now starting to learn how to roar.

Shiro picked the boy up with ease.

"This is someone who unfortunately knows Iemitsu, but doesn't like him much either."

Tsuna flinched at the name. Oh yeah, they were so not telling that ass where his son was. Not if his name caused _that_ reaction.

"Relax kid. I'm not about to tell that idiot where you are if he couldn't even follow the easiest lead to find you."

How the hell did that idiot not think to track the phone records of that sushi chef Belphegor had befriended? It had taken all of ten minutes for Mammon to find the records through the phone company and locate the kid.

Which really brought into question how much else that moron missed doing his actual job.

"What's your name?" he asked, cautiously.

The teen grinned, it was normally quite terrifying. But this kid clearly didn't have that sort of reaction.

"My name is Xanxus. You've already met Belphegor and Mammon."

Tsuna, when he was put down, bowed politely and said "My name is Tsuna! Takamachi Tsuna! It's nice to meet you!"

Dear god, were those flowers and sparkles real or imagined? This kid was entirely too innocent!

But he did have a _slight_ soft spot for kids. Xanxus patted him on the head.

"Why don't you go play with Bel and Mammon while we talk."

Tsuna dashed over to where the others were. The girl had balls of steel and if he didn't know any better he would swear the prince brat was growing a crush on her.

Xanxus actually rather liked Shiro Takamachi. He was pragmatic but not Stupid. If not for his injuries he could have been a great Varia member.

And unlike Iemitsu, Xanxus took family seriously. No way was he letting this poor kid who reminded him way too much of his own situation (with a few minor details, but almost the same) suffer from this much Stupidity.

The Vongola should have been alerted to the fact Nana was sick and taken steps to insure that the brat was alright. Not rely on the kindness of mere civilians to do that job. It reflected badly on their ability to take care of their own!


	2. Chapter 2

**The current pairings for this story are Bel/Nanoha/Fate and Hayate/Tsuna. Also, Shiro is the canon name of Nanoha's father.**

* * *

Nono was not having a good month. First Iemitsu finds out his wife is dead and that his son is missing, and now Xanxus was refusing to tell him where the boy was.

About all he would share was that the family who had him were angry enough with his stupidity that they wanted him nowhere near his own son. Not even Nono could get anything more out of him, other than the fact Xanxus had left the Varia contact information since Iemitsu was nearly impossible to get a hold of.

Even he would admit that his nephew had really dropped the ball on that one, because there were multiple attempts to get in touch with him to let him know what was going on and the man had ignored them.

And Xanxus had become increasingly hostile to him for reasons he was confused by.

Which meant if they wanted any details, he would have to call in reinforcements.

His mother was never going to let him hear the end of this.

* * *

Tsuna was going through his mother's old photos, mostly as a way to make sure he never forgot what she looked like on Momoka's suggestion, when he found the book.

It was very old, and really pretty. It had a shiny cross on the front and chains.

He couldn't remember his mother owning this book, but it looked like it was well cared for.

For that reason alone he added it to the bookshelf.

He had no idea that merely touching it started a chain reaction that would lead to wonders he'd only dream of.

And bring an entire world out into the wide-wide universe purely because of who he was and his inheritance.

* * *

Daniela had a feeling as to why her youngest grandson had suddenly quit trusting her son, but she wasn't about to enlighten Timoteo to the consequences of his foolishness in leading the poor boy on like he had.

She rolled past the Varia and into her grandson's office.

One look told her everything she needed to know... Xanxus had found out he was adopted and could never truly inherit.

The moment he registered her presence, he looked ready to cry. Only his pride kept him from doing so. Daniela dismissed her remaining Guardians...this was one talk that had be done in private, where Xanxus could let his real feelings show.

She was perfectly safe with him... she was one of the rare people who was always completely honest with him and never treated him like he didn't belong. As such she had his respect.

What he revealed during that meeting had her on the war path though.

 _In the Iron Fort..._

Timoteo had hoped to get something out of his son, like _who_ had adopted Tsunayoshi at the least.

Instead he had to deal with his mother looking ready to unleash her worst at him.

"I take it Xanxus found out?"

"That's not why I'm angry at you, but yes he discovered your journals. You should have told him sooner," she said, eyes raging.

Timoteo blinked. Somehow he had the feeling this was not going to end well for him.

"What in god's name possessed you to seal a five year old?!"

He winced.

He had prayed to god his mother never found out about that.

"Tsuna awakened Sky flames too young. Iemitsu begged me to keep him out of our world..." he tried to explain, but she became even more enraged.

"You fool! Do you have _any_ idea what sort of damage that does to a child? Sealing should never be done so casually, and never done that young! Especially Sky flames! If he really cared about his family, he would have left better contact information or had someone train the boy who wouldn't tell him about the mafia, not leave his wife and son alone for years at a time!" snarled Daniela.

She was definitely pissed and ready to kill.

The fact Xanxus told her _everything_ about the situation had her siding with him, rather than Timoteo or even Iemitsu. They had screwed up that poor child enough...it was time to do damage control.

"I am going to have Mammon go through _everything_ done by CEDEF since Iemitsu took over with a fine tooth comb and you are going to make time to visit that poor boy and undo the seal you placed. Xanxus has agreed to train him."

Timoteo winced.

Somehow he had the feeling this was a powder keg that was on the brink of going off...and that was before his mother's temper blew wide open.

* * *

 _Nanoha, age ten, Tsuna age nine and a half..._

Tsuna rubbed his legs. They had been pinching him for months now, but the doctors hadn't found anything out of the ordinary.

It made him a bit slower when it got really painful, but then again he wasn't that fast to begin with. Hearing someone call his name, he turned and his face brightened.

Hayate Yagami was a really nice girl who had some weird hobbies but otherwise was really popular. Nanoha got along with her great, though his brother and sisters like to tease him about his crush on her.

Hayate was one of the rare few who joined in when Nanoha told off people who made fun of him. He really liked her.

"Your legs giving you grief again?" she asked with sympathy.

"Yeah, wish I knew what was pinching the nerves. Even the doctors are baffled, but Tou-san said it might be related to what Iemitsu did to me when I was little."

Who knew what the full effects were on sealing a child as young as Tsuna was? No one was stupid enough to study the effects of sealing a Sky flame, especially one as strong as Tsuna's was.

Hayate helped him up and smiled at his blush. She wasn't oblivious to the fact he really, really liked her, but she was patient enough to wait until hormones either made him act...or Nanoha got tired of hearing about it and made him say something.

Her money was on Nanoha speaking for him. He was shy, in an adorable kitten way.

As night fell and Tsuna was planning to go pick Nanoha up from cram school, which ran until eight, he was suddenly hit with a wave of vertigo. He found a bench to sit down in, and took deep breaths. Ever since he moved from Namimori and was encouraged to be more active, they were quickly alerted to the fact he had asthma. Or something that mimicked the symptoms pretty closely.

The medicine didn't really help, so he learned to take a moment to have several deep breaths and calm down.

He didn't realize it until he suddenly sneezed, but he had drifted off. It wasn't the first time, nor would it exactly be the last.

He checked the time. Cram school would be over shortly, and he was on the route Nanoha usually took home.

Tsuna was a few moments from standing up...but the vertigo hit him harder. What was going on?

 _ **Anfang.**_

That came from his bag! The one he carried his mother's book in!

In the dark of the night, illuminated by street lamps, the book floated in the middle of the air.

"HIE!"

Tsuna was so freaked out he barely paid attention to the introduction of the four people in front of him.

Fortunately, his sister came to the rescue.

"Tsuna!" she yelped.

He passed out before he learned what the heck was going on.

* * *

 _Some time later..._

Tsuna kept twitching. He was almost tempted to pinch himself repeatedly.

"So let me get this straight. You four (he motioned to the quartet who called themselves the Wolkenritter) are part of this book that I found in my mother's things. You serve the person who bonds with it as their protectors though generally you fill the book until the Master uses you to fill the last pages. So you have no idea what happens when the book is actually filled," Tsuna clarified.

Thank god for tea, and Nanoha's personality.

"That is correct," said Signum.

Tsuna's eyebrows twitched.

"Nanoha, what does the other clock in the kitchen say?" he called out.

"You should still be good to call them!" she shouted back.

Her parents were surprisingly calm about the situation...even if they were just as confused.

Tsuna dialed a well known number at this point, even if Iemitsu kept trying to keep him far, far away from the owner.

At this point it was well known he had screwed his duties as a parent to the point his son wanted _nothing_ to do with him, but still had a rather amiable relationship with Xanxus of all people.

He didn't ask questions about work, and they didn't talk shop or do more than give him a general idea of how things in the mafia worked...or more importantly what would come back to bite him in the ass if he wasn't smart about it.

As such, he was generally the first one Tsuna called if something weird happened or he needed advice.

" _What?! It's late brat and I just got back!"_

"Xanxus-nii, something really, really weird happened. Like Mammon-nee got drunk and started using illusions again weird."

Dead silence.

" _That bad?"_

"The book I found in my mother's things suddenly sprouted three people and someone who apparently turns into a dog. Help."

" _I'll be there by tomorrow afternoon with Mammon and Belphegor. Do not destroy the world before I get there,"_ growled Xanxus.

Tsuna sighed with relief.

"Thanks, Xanxus-nii. Have a nice sleep."

Xanxus growled and hung up.

"He'll be here by tomorrow."

Signum was clearly uncomfortable at more people knowing about the book, but clearly her new master had a way of doing things.

"Until then, we should really get you four situated for the night."

Considering they were knights and therefor not really comfortable leaving their new master alone so soon, the four came to an immediate compromise with Momoka and Shiro.

Zafira would be allowed to stay in Tsuna's room but he had to be in canine form at all times. Vita would stay with Nanoha while Shamal and Signum shared the recently added guest rooms.

It was cheaper and easier on the nerves to simply add an additional set of rooms rather than rent out hotels every time Belphegor got the mood to come visit Nanoha or bring Mammon with him.

Besides, Mammon always got free strawberry cakes and treats whenever they visited, and they liked Momoka who found them adorable.

On an unrelated note, Mammon was more than happy to do the taxes and accounting for the Takamachi family in exchange for more cake.

* * *

Tsuna found a familiar face at the gate when school let out. And he let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey Bel-kun!" he said, waving.

Belphegor was really, really weird, but when he liked you he was a good friend. He was also really competitive which made it hilarious when Tsuna beat him at video games.

He also didn't mind being Hayate-chan's dress up dummy so long as she cooked for him in exchange...and didn't touch the crown or have to show his eyes. He got really touchy about that.

Tsuna had some really weird friends, but he wouldn't change it for the world. Because honestly, he could be living alone in that house without his mother and forced to endure the bullying with no one to care.

He liked his life in Uminari more.

"Shishishi... I heard you have some interesting new friends around."

"It was like Mammon got into the alcohol and decided to make illusions again," complained Tsuna.

And that was only memorable because Mammon was a really, really weird drunk and their illusions were even more bizarre. He had photos that Belphegor promptly confiscated as blackmail.

Needless to say Belphegor made a point to slip alcohol into Mammon's drinks whenever and wherever possible after.

"Shishishi..."

"Hi, Bel-kun!" said Nanoha cheerfully.

"Hello, Nanoha-chan."

He was totally blushing but the siblings didn't call him out on it. Though they did find his habit of saying they had "weaponized friendship" rather weird.

The trio walked back to the house, where they found a very irritated Mammon and a surly looking Xanxus waiting. With some rather defensive Wolkenritter giving them looks Tsuna didn't entirely like.

"What's the verdict?"

"Mu. The book is cursed, heavily so. However it seems to have absorbed your seal and something is using it to trap the curse inside. Liberating it should take a few days before it's safe to use. As for these four, they appear to operate under the same parameters as Guardians and a familiar," said Mammon.

"Good riddance. Nono was taking his sweet time since Iemitsu keeps throwing a damn fuss whenever it's brought up," said Xanxus crossly.

Whenever the topic was broached, Iemitsu always found out about it and tried to get a ride with Nono to see Tsuna. However Daniela had made it clear before her death that the idiot wasn't allowed within a thousand feet of his son, much less allowed to find out where he lived now. His incompetence had nearly gotten his family killed before, because he never shut up about them.

As a result, Nono couldn't go anywhere near Japan to unseal Tsuna without having to deal with Iemitsu's shit, which had pissed Xanxus off to no end.

Especially after finding out Iemitsu _hadn't_ done his job properly at all and that the Vongola was almost infested with traitors and spies.

One of the last acts Daniela made as the former head of the Vongola was authorize the Varia to "clean house". If someone wasn't vetted they either suffered accidents that were barely concealed as such, open displays to warn off whatever family they were with, or were dealt with.

Timoteo wasn't happy, but it got the sting of betrayal Xanxus has upon learning he was adopted (thus not eligible to become Decimo in the first place) and it kept his mother off his ass about Tsuna's sealing.

Xanxus didn't really talk about the coup that almost was, and training Tsuna seemed to help a lot. Tsuna looked up to him like an older brother, and Xanxus was able to permanently corrupt the kid away from Iemitsu's stupidity and teach him things he wouldn't learn otherwise.

Like Italian or how to keep up with Nanoha in the math department. Because after watching her debate calculus of all things with Mammon, the Mist had damn near demanded to adopt her on the spot.

The Takamachi did not talk about how the Mist was corrupting Nanoha. All they knew was that the 'baby' and their youngest daughter got along far too well for anyone sanity save Tsuna's.

"Really now," said Xanxus with a dangerous grin that made Signum twitch.

"She (Mammon pointed at Signum who twitched again) has some very powerful Storm flames. She (she pointed at Shamal) has a Sunny Rain...I'd say she _might_ be on the same level as Reborn if she put some effort into it. This one is a Stormy Lightning," said Mammon, looking at Vita.

"What about Wolf Boy?"

"Mist. Though all have the same underlying Cloud Flame that's overpowered by their primary elements. Likely to insure loyalty to their Sky."

Xanxus smirked.

"You don't do anything by halves, do you brat?"

"So they're safe?" asked Tsuna to Mammon.

"Mu. The curse is _only_ in the book and something seems to be actively using your old seal to separate it from the rest. I can remove it in a few days once it's complete, but until then leave it be."

Tsuna nodded.

"Master, are you aware of what these people are?" said Signum when she couldn't take it anymore.

If these people weren't assassins she'd eat her device!

"They're family. Or at least Xanxus and Mammon are. Belphegor is more like a crazy cousin that is crushing on Nanoha."

"Shishishi..." laughed Bel while drawing his knives... "I am not crushing on the befriending devil."

"Quit calling me that!" said Nanoha glaring at him. She was not a White Devil and she found the nickname annoying... especially when Tsuna mentioned it to Hayate by accident and she smiled in irritation at him. It had only spread from there.

Seeing Tsuna at ease with their presence was the _only_ reason Signum didn't attack Xanxus on sight. Or worse, Belphegor who just creeped her out.


	3. Chapter 3

It is through Belphegor volunteering his "linker core" that Tsuna and more importantly Xanxus finds out something interesting about the book and it's ability to "drain magic". Or catalog it.

These...linker cores...were in fact fancy terms for Dying Will Flames, or were close enough to make no difference. The Prince brat would be on restricted activity for a week, but after that would be up and annoying everyone.

Mammon, quick to see an opportunity in getting a free vacation in Uminari for a week, was the next to offer up some Flames. Besides, someone had to keep Belphegor in check.

Needless to say they were all very surprised to find that Mammon provided over a hundred pages on their own.

Seeing it didn't really harm his subordinates, and just as happy to claim a "free" vacation away from paperwork for a week, Xanxus allowed his Flames to be drained as well.

The reaction was quite...explosive. Or at least the screaming certainly got a lot of attention.

Apparently Mammon hadn't fully removed the curse from the book, so whatever was inside it that opted to use Tsuna's seal to separate it decided to finish the job.

Black sludge that was _definitely_ burning from Wrath Flames came pouring out of the book, followed by a very incensed female with silver hair, red eyes and odd clothing.

She looked almost as vindictive as Xanxus in a bad mood with a target when she used _his_ Flames to completely annihilate the sludge.

Realizing where she was and what she had done, she became rather sheepish.

"What the fuck was that?! Ow! Dammit girl I think I should be allowed to curse at times like this!" said Xanxus at Nanoha.

"Fair enough. You get a ten word leeway," said Nanoha.

He glared at her, but she didn't back down. Belphegor snickered.

"Someone mind explaining what the hell is going on?!" said Tsuna, almost whining. What the hell was happening to his life, and could it go back to normal soon, please?

 **"My Master. I apologize for the pain I was forced to put you through, however temporarily it was,"** said the woman, bowing before Tsuna.

"Right. Any other surprises this thing intends to spring on us?" said Xanxus to no one in particular.

For the next ten blessed minutes, which resulted in Tsuna proving he had no sense for names and was almost at the limit of what he could take in one setting, nothing new occurred.

However since the seal was _finally_ removed, it meant Xanxus could start on the real training of the "Kitten" as he called Tsuna.

Meaning Tsuna would have to leave for several months or up to a year, at least until his flames stabilized and he gathered some Guardians the _normal_ way, rather than have preset ones dumped into his lap.

Tsuna wasn't happy, Nanoha wasn't happy, and the Wolkenritter were very unhappy because Tsuna was about to be brought in to a large castle filled with trained killers who could take him out at any time.

Needless to say Zafira was going to be sticking to Tsuna's side like glue until his training was over.

* * *

"Aw... so you have to leave for a long time?" said Hayate disappointed.

"Xanxus-nii said that since whatever Iemitsu did to me is gone, I need to be away from large cities until I have it under control. It won't be forever though. But I was hoping you could help me with something..." said Tsuna shyly.

"What?"

He brought her to meet the Wolkenritter.

"Help? They need normal clothes and I have no idea what to call her (he pointed to the silver haired woman). They also said something about Knight armor, but have no idea what to do about that..."

"...You're giving me five people to turn into my own personal dress up dummies for some really interesting outfits and free reign on their wardrobe?" she asked him, eyes serious.

"Um... yes?"

She squealed with delight, sending shivers of doom down their spines. Then she did something that made Tsuna squeak, before blushing like mad.

She kissed him on the cheek.

"Let it to me! I'll have them fashionable in no time and that will serve as a reminder who's waiting for you when you get back!" said Hayate with unholy glee.

Tsuna blinked, blushed so red his face looked like it was a tomato, before he registered Nanoha's cackling, Belphegor's weird laughter, Mammon's evil chuckles and Xanxus laughing.

"It's about damn time!" said Nanoha. She was holding a video camera and grinning evilly.

"Shishishi..."

"Mu. Of course you realize that now you'll have to give the brat the 'Talk'," said Mammon.

"Hell no. I'm tossing him to Luss. Let the okama deal with that shit like he did Belphegor," said Xanxus.

"To the shopping!" said Hayate. Armed with a Varia credit card (mostly because Xanxus knew damn well Hayate got along with Luss too well to be healthy for anyone's sanity and the Wolkenritter deserved it for the headaches they had given him) there was no escape for the five. Especially Vita, even if Hayate made up for it by getting her a rabbit doll.

Hayate also drafted up several possible designs for knight armor...and helped Tsuna finally come up with a name for the spirit that had been trapped in the book.

She seemed to like the name Reinforce. Even if she was hiding in the book to avoid another shopping trip from hell with Hayate. Ten outfits was her limit, thank you very much and she at least had an escape route. The Wolkenritter weren't so lucky.

* * *

 _In Florence..._

Tsuna quickly put his things away in neat piles. Momoka didn't like messy rooms, so she made Tsuna clean his regularly or he wouldn't get an allowance.

It was weird, being in Italy for his Flame training...but at least exposure to Xanxus, Belphegor and Mammon (they were the three who most consistently visited) meant he could understand English, Italian, German and Japanese. He was still working on his Chinese and his French was a bit wonky. But it was one of the few things Xanxus _could_ teach him and not get into trouble for. Besides, after the first three (not including Japanese) Tsuna found it easier to mentally translate languages.

Hearing the sound of squealing, he grinned. Sorella must have heard that he would be staying with them for a while, and to keep the bloodshed of the idiots to a minimum, the Wolkenritter and Tsuna would be occupying the Cloud officer suite.

Xanxus had taken out the previous one for being a traitorous little bastard. Besides, it meant he had to deal with less bitching from Signum and the others.

"Tsuna-kun! I'm so happy to see you again, darling~!" said Luss.

Xanxus had called him in to make sure that the seal wasn't impairing Tsuna more than just making him extra clumsy and a bit slower than he could be. The second he met Hayate after learning of Tsuna's crush, the two had clicked...and immediately conspired with each other over fashion.

Hayate had a new pen pal and learned Italian within a few months. As such she was usually the one Tsuna talked to in order to keep his own skills at the language sharp. Xanxus would kill him otherwise.

"Hi Sorella," said Tsuna, hugging the odd Okama back. Luss cooed at him.

"You get cuter every time I see you. So who are your new friends?"

"This is Signum, Shamal, Vita and Zafira. Reinforce is hiding at the moment because I let Hayate work her magic on their wardrobe. They're sorta my Guardians."

"What do you mean by sort of?" asked Luss, looking them over.

"Well they were more or less dumped into my lap by my mother's book and Mammon-nee said they all have active Flames but they are harmonized to the book and not me specifically. They listen to me like Guardians, but the bond isn't attached completely to me yet," said Tsuna.

At least that was how Mammon explained it.

"Hmm... I could perform a physical to see why..."

"There is no need," interrupted Signum. "Our bodies are constructs. If destroyed we will simply be reformed by the book in the same condition as we were summoned."

Luss blinked, though you couldn't really see it with his glasses, before looking at Tsuna seriously.

"Never let Verde hear about this. God knows that man will do anything to see how that's possible."

"Mammon-nee said the same thing," said Tsuna.

"And look at you! Still skinny as a rake! Let me show you were the kitchens are so you get fed properly...if the boss doesn't yell for you first."

"Xanxus-nii said he had a headache and was going to take a long nap."

"We'll get you fed up so you can sleep off the jet lag," said Luss.

"Voi! Where's the brat?" demanded a loud voice.

"Seems Squalo heard you're going to be staying here for a while."

Tsuna snickered.

"He's going to love having Signum around. She likes swords too and her hair is just as long as his is," said Tsuna.

Luss grinned at him.

Signum twitched. This was going to be a long couple of months, even if it meant their master would be less vulnerable later.

Being around trained assassins was not doing much for her mellow.

* * *

"Wait, you found a ferret that has a magical jewel that allows you to transform... and Hayate hasn't tracked you down yet, how?" said Tsuna incredulous. He was only gone for two months! How did Nanoha suddenly become a magical girl!?

Nanoha winced. At least once Reinforce had the frequency of "Raging Heart" they were able to open up video screens to chat with. At the expense of a minor freak out because apparently someone familiar with the TSAB was inside the house.

Yuuno didn't know who Reinforce was, but they weren't taking any chances.

" _So how's training with Xanxus-nii going?"_

Tsuna winced.

"Let's just say once Signum found out what he meant by 'Quality' and at least making sure I fit the bare minimum for that sort of thing she was all for it. She keeps getting into sparring contests with Squalo."

" _Poor thing. At least you'll survive P.E. now, right?"_ she joked.

"Apparently the asthma attacks were all because Reinforce was draining my excess flames, and was blocked by the seal. I haven't had to do one of my exercises in weeks," said Tsuna grinning.

" _That's great! Kaa-san's going to be thrilled to hear that!"_ said Nanoha enthusiastically. _"What about homework?"_

Tsuna winced even more.

"Xanxus-nii is worse than the one time I joined you for a week at cram school. He doesn't let me take a break until I get the answers right every time, but it's a lot more fun than sitting around."

Once they found out Tsuna was actually rather smart, but did better while active, Xanxus brutally took advantage of it. He might actually be able to compete with Nanoha now.

Nanoha was about to say something, but her face twitched.

" _Another seed is active. I expect presents when you get back, Tsuna-nii!"_ said Nanoha pouting.

"I'll be sure to bring something back, Nanoha-nee!" said Tsuna. She closed the window, and he sighed.

He missed home. He missed his mother's cooking, hanging out with Nanoha, and he missed Hayate. But he needed to learn how to use his Flames so that he wouldn't attract too much attention from the mafia.

Especially now that the underworld and particularly the Vongola was in an uproar over the death of Enrico.

Tsuna had gone to the funeral, because even though he had never met the man he was still family and he knew Xanxus was hurting.

The fact the man had held Tsuna's hand so tightly was a telling sign of how much he loved his brother. Even if Signum and the others managed to worm their way into the funeral.

When it was over, Tsuna waited with Xanxus, since none of the Varia were really that good at being "empathetic". They knew their Sky was hurting, but they were too embarrassed to try and comfort him. And the few women in the Varia couldn't, because it might lead to rumors of him having a relationship with him, and he didn't want that.

Tsuna though... he was another story. He wasn't _officially_ part of the Varia, and everyone knew he was only there because Xanxus had been asked by Nono to train him in how to use Sky Flames without sending people into Discord. He could afford to be seen comforting the older Sky and not have to worry about his reputation, and besides, Xanxus openly trusted him not to use it against him.

The second they were behind closed doors, he. Broke. Down.

Tsuna let Xanxus hide his tears in his shirt. He just hugged his big brother who had lost someone he cared for and everyone only saw the Varia leader. Not the little brother who had lost one of the few people who actually gave a damn and _listened_ to him growing up, after being tossed into the lion's pride.

Because Xanxus was a tiger, not a lion, and he'd be damned if he let something like stripes keep him from ruling what was his.

Even if it meant he had to give up his hopes of proving himself to Nono... Daniela had at least explained _why_ he would never be able to rule the Vongola or wear the rings. It wasn't exactly told to their children, but the rings were literally _locked_ to the Vongola bloodline. As in even if he did get the rings, they wouldn't allow him to use them...because the souls of the past Vongola were stored inside and they only allowed those of the blood to use them.

But that didn't make him any less her grandson, and she pinched his cheeks very hard to remind him she still loved him.

Which meant he had to make sure Tsuna stayed alive so he could pass on the blood. Besides, he liked having the brat around. Tsuna listened to him and didn't care if he was adopted.

And of course there was the always fun bonus of having the fact he was training Tsuna pissed Iemitsu off to no end.

Mostly because there was nothing Iemitsu could do to take his son away from Xanxus.

* * *

Signum watched Xanxus break down. Then again she wasn't there the day Tsuna lost any and all fear of the man.

Tsuna had gone to Daniela's funeral... Xanxus lost any and all his pride and wouldn't come out for a full week. It had been Tsuna who had managed to help Xanxus recover enough that he was able to bring Squalo in.

Which was why Xanxus only allowed his tough exterior to break around the younger boy. He didn't see Xanxus, Leader of the Varia and around Bad ass... he saw Xanxus-nii-san, one of his favorite big brothers and the one who kept the jerk who donated half of Tsuna's genetics far, far away from him.

Tsuna did not like Iemitsu. He wanted nothing to do with him.

Enrico's death was bad, but not as hard as Daniela's was.

The thing that bothered Tsuna most was that Nono never once checked on his son. It was like he expected Tsuna and Xanxus' Guardians to handle that burden.

And that made Tsuna mad. He was already upset with Nono over the seal...but not checking on his son?

It was like Iemitsu all over again.

Tsuna hugged his big brother tighter. Letting Xanxus know that even if his adopted dad was a jerk, he still had him.

" _Ouch. Tell Xanxus-nii that he's always welcome to come visit for a week. By the way, meet Yuuno!"_ said Nanoha, holding up a ferret.

"Nanoha, it's a ferret."

" _Uh, actually..."_

Tsuna stared.

"Are you anything like Zafira?"asked Tsuna. Zafira had freaked him out the first time he talked as a giant wolf.

" _I'm not a familiar, it's just a trick I learned from my clan,"_ said Yuuno patiently.

Tsuna calmed down.

"So what's happening over there?"

" _Well... it seems someone else is after the Jewel Seeds, but the situation just got a lot more...complicated."_

"Complicated as in..."

" _The TSAB would like to have a word with your Knights. Something about the book being really dangerous or something. They didn't believe me when I told them Mammon-nee purged it. I think whoever had it last did something really bad, because Chrono-san looked really angry when he found out it was active again."_

Tsuna winced.

"Can I bring Xanxus-nii with me? I think he could use a distraction away from Italy at the moment and so could the others."

" _I can ask Lindy-san,"_ said Nanoha. _"Mind waiting while I call and ask?"_

"I'm free for the rest of the night. Training is off until Xanxus-nii feels better."

Meaning until they found out who killed Enrico, Tsuna was on lock down alone with his knights. The last thing the Vongola needed was to lose the youngest of the potential heirs this soon.

Nanoha called roughly ten minutes later.

" _She said it was fine. Apparently she wants to learn more about his Wrath flames and how Reinforce used it to purge the rest of the book."_

"I'll let Xanxus-nii know."


	4. Chapter 4

Xanxus' pain at losing Enrico was briefly lost upon realizing he was looking at the earth from _space._ Actual _space_.

"Shishishi... Good call, Nanoha-chan," said Belphegor.

"Is anyone else creeped out by him or is it just me?" asked Yuuno, staring at Bel.

"That's normal. Just humor him and he'll leave you alone," said Nanoha dismissively.

"You only say that because he calls you the White Devil," said Tsuna snickering.

Nanoha slapped him lightly.

Xanxus grinned, and he looked more like himself for the first time in _days_.

"Mu. It is very impressive," said Mammon.

"Voi. Where's Signum and the others?" asked Squalo.

"Takamachi Tsuna? Captain Lindy would like to speak to you for a moment. Reinforce as well," said Chrono tightly.

Xanxus walked with the kid. Chrono thought about telling him Tsuna was supposed to speak to Lindy alone, except Xanxus did technically qualify as Tsuna's legal guardian, or close enough.

Besides, the blond "prince" and the silver haired man with the prosthetic left hand worried him. He didn't want to give them reason to start something for the hell of it.

* * *

Lindy's choice of drink made Tsuna cringe... for roughly the same reasons as Nanoha. Green tea with milk and sugar was a bit weird.

Xanxus however, was a coffee drinker. He could care less.

"So... you're the current master of the Book of Darkness."

"Reinforce. She really hates being call that now that the book was forcibly purged."

Lindy had a tight smile. Apparently Nanoha wasn't kidding when she said they might have lost someone last time.

"Reinforce then. I'm sure you understand that we can't just take your word on it that the cause was purged. I'm also concerned about these... Flames, she spoke of."

"I can't go into too many specifics. We operate under a strict set of secrecy laws for multiple reasons."

"Fair enough."

* * *

"How long until she starts twitching when she finds out what you do?" asked Nanoha.

"Shishishi... I give it two minutes, tops."

"Five," said Squalo.

"I give it three, and she yelps when she figures it out. Usual odds?" asked Nanoha.

"Deal," said the boys.

"WHAT?!"

Chrono's head whipped to where his mother's yelp came from. Nanoha snickered and accepted a credit card from Belphegor and some cash from Squalo.

"Pleasure doing business with you," she snickered.

"Mind explaining why my mother yelped like that?"

Nanoha smirked. Yuuno had a bad feeling about that.

"Who wants to break it to him?" she asked.

"Mu. You can do it, if for no other reason than I'm holding the camera," said Mammon.

"Xanxus-nii and his people are with the Varia. An organization of skilled assassins...and he's training Tsuna-nii because he's one of the heirs of a mafia family called the Vongola. Though because of an agreement with someone we never talk about, he's not allowed to know more than the bare bones," said Nanoha.

Chrono twitched.

"Mafia as in..."

"Organized crime, brat."

His twitching was only getting worse.

"And you had us bring them onto our ship."

"They don't kill without a contract, though we have to keep Belphegor on a leash for various reasons."

"Shishishi..."

"You convinced my mother to bring trained killers. On our ship. Where help is unlikely," said Chrono, twitching.

Yuuno was still looking at Nanoha like she had a second head. How the hell was she so calm about this?

"You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family. Besides, they grow on you. Eventually. Just don't give Mammon-nee a reason to gamble against you. She likes to cheat and gouge you of all your money."

"Said the only one who's ever managed to beat Mammon at poker and black jack," said Squalo irritated.

"Shishishi... Relax, little peasant. We'll behave in front of the White Devil."

Nanoha scowled.

"I told you to quit calling me that!"

Lindy came out, twitching rather strongly.

"You neglected to tell us their...occupation... Nanoha-san."

Nanoha smiled.

"They won't cause trouble, and Tsuna has nothing to do with their job anyway."

"Then why is Xanxus-san training him?" said Lindy.

"Because it was either that or Nono would never heard the end of it from Nonna," said Tsuna.

"Nonna?"

"His great-grandmother. She found out her son sealed Tsuna-nii's linker core when he was five and she got really mad. So Nono agreed that if the seal were removed Xanxus would be the one to train him, partly because that way it would be kept quiet and to show that Nono trusts him despite being adopted," said Nanoha.

Lindy paled.

"Someone actually _sealed_ a child's linker core?! Who would do something that barbaric!"

Tsuna winced. He didn't want to hear the name, much less be reminded of the sealing. Nanoha hugged him and covered his ears.

Lindy blinked at the reaction, but found Xanxus' angry aura more telling. He had a directionless rage, but was keeping it in check.

"Nanoha, take the brat to find the Knights. Belphegor, Mammon, go with her."

"Mu. Understood boss," said Mammon, floating to where Nanoha was and sitting on her shoulder.

"Come on Yuuno, let's go find where they took Reinforce for her check up," said Nanoha firmly. Tsuna timidly followed her, his body shaking. Belphegor stood at his other side, offering silent support.

Lindy found it very strange.

Xanxus took a calming breath, though it was clear the mere mention of the subject royally pissed him off.

"For multiple reasons, we don't talk about Tsuna's birth father in front of him. And we definitely don't mention what that idiot did to him."

Lindy blinked before a dawning horror came upon her face.

"His own...?"

"Iemitsu claimed he was keeping his wife and son away from the underworld by staying away from them, but in reality he just wanted to keep Nonna off his ass about getting married and continuing the bloodline. He would stay away for years, only to show up for a week or so to remind his wife he was still alive. He didn't even leave proper contact information in case of emergencies. And when his son manifested the gift of our family, he had Nono seal him rather than have him trained like he should have been, claiming it was for his _safety_ ," said Xanxus with barely contained rage about the subject.

"The idiot didn't know the first thing about what sealing does to people, and it's _never_ been done to a child that young, or with those Flames. The poor kid would have been screwed up for life," said Squalo almost spitting in disgust.

"Why is Tsuna-san so terrified of him?" asked Chrono. Sealing a child was bad enough, but it didn't inflict this level of trauma. The boy had looked terrified out of his wits at the mere mention of the subject.

"Because the brat's greatest fear is that Iemitsu will show up and take him away from the Takamachi family," said Squalo. Not that he really blamed the kid, but the mere idea of it happening sent him into a downward spiral and he was impossible to deal with for an hour at least.

It was a major weakness, but one that could be avoided with the simple act of keeping Iemitsu as far from his son as possible.

Xanxus growled.

"Bastard didn't even show up for his wife's funeral, much less answer the many, many letters I know the Takamachi sent to tell him of his wife's condition," said Xanxus.

Lindy eyed him for a moment, before a strange, sad smile on her face appeared.

"It would seem we have nothing to worry about with your people on board after all."

"Captain?" said Chrono baffled.

"No one who cares that much about their family would be a bad person. Just please, don't do anything we would be obligated to arrest you for while you're here?" she asked.

Xanxus blinked, before a smirk appeared on his face.

"Fair enough."

* * *

"So Reinforce is missing a few programs?"

The cheerful girl in the repair dock grinned at him.

"With your authorization we can replace the missing programs and make her better! Good thing we always keep spares stocked!"

"Uh...how do I do that?"

As Tsuna was walked through the process, Nanoha was looking over the Wolkenritter. They looked tired, but resigned to their fates.

"How did it go? The interview I mean?"

"We're on probation. If we step out of line then Tsuna has to bear the brunt of our crimes, but for now Lindy-san said she wasn't going to tell her superiors that the book was active again. It's almost a clean slate..." said Signum.

Vita didn't look happy, but then again she was there when Lindy explained that she wasn't going to hold the actions of their last Master against them...even if the book was responsible for the loss of her husband.

Hearing the door open, Tsuna spotted someone there.

"How did it go, Xanxus-nii?"

"Since they don't have jurisdiction on our planet, they can't exactly complain about what we do for a living. But keep the prince trash on a leash. Until then, spend time with your sister for a while," he said shortly.

He would have left...except the technician happened to spot something that had her eyes gleam.

"What are those?"

Nanoha blinked, then looked at what she was staring at.

"Are you talking about Xanxus-nii's X-Guns?" she asked baffled.

The girl nodded.

Xanxus looked at her oddly, before a grin appeared on his face.

He let her look at them, and she squealed with delight.

"She really likes unusual things," said Yuuno staring.

"Are these modified Cartridge Units?" she asked excitedly.

Tsuna took one look at Xanxus and sighed.

"Come on...maybe we can get something to eat while Xanxus-nii talks shop with Mary," he said.

Nanoha nodded.

Xanxus could get really into it when it came to talking about his guns.

"Shishishi... the boss is having fun," snickered Belphegor, joining them.

Squalo spotted them ten minutes later.

"Voi! Have you seen the Boss?"

"He's talking about his guns with Mary in the repair area. I think she's interested to see what adding a Belka cartridge system to his X-Guns would create, and he was still talking to her," said Nanoha.

"Voi. Thanks," said Squalo.

"Care for a match?" asked Signum. Squalo grinned.

Xanxus came to eat something with a much more relaxed smirk than he had on his face since Enrico died.

"Did you modify your guns?" asked Nanoha, passing the strawberry milk without a word to Mammon.

"Apparently I was only missing one or two parts, and it was a miracle the gun still fired correctly."

Chrono, who overheard that comment twitched.

"Those guns are amazing! I can't believe you managed to create something almost identical to a Belka-style Device without any of the technology!" said Mary excitedly. "And that metal you used for the guns are more conductive than any I've seen!"

"Wait, what?" said Chrono, looking at Mary in shock.

"His guns were practically devices already. They just needed some minor corrections," said Mary. "The metal alone is highly conductive to magic, and the bullets are practically identical to Belka-style ones, except they have a different sort of kick to them."

Tsuna blinked, before an idea occurred to him.

"Hey Yuuno-kun, you like archaeology and rare books, right?"

"I'm an archaeologist and historian, why?" he asked.

"Well there's a lot of rare books and other areas controlled by the mafia...I bet if you could help show Xanxus-nii how your magic works, the Varia might be willing to fund or at least act as guards for some expeditions on our planet. I know the Varia headquarters has a lot of books in multiple languages, since you have to know seven different ones just to join up. And Xanxus-nii would know how to contact whoever helped give him the metal to make his guns with."

"Who made those guns anyway?" asked Lindy.

"I did. I make all the fire arms in the Varia for those worth making them for," said Xanxus bluntly.

Lindy saw an opportunity. At least one for the future.

"Who controls this metal?"

"The mafia do, or at least certain Familigias. It's not like there's much opportunity for Flame Users outside the mafia... and it's too dangerous for them not to be regulated. You either become a hit man, or if you're really lucky a Guardian," said Tsuna.

"Who started this?"

"Our ancestor and the one who started the Vongola Familigia, Giotto," repeated Tsuna duly, as if reciting something he had drilled into his head. "If you want to know more ask Xanxus-nii. He's the one who's making sure I remember this stuff since I'm descended from the Primo and one of the potential heirs."

Keeping him out of the underworld didn't mean he couldn't at least _learn_ his family history.

Lindy spared at look at Xanxus, who despite being relaxed was already drinking...

"Is that alcohol?" she demanded, eyes narrowing.

"Voi. You really don't want to confiscate that from the Boss. He gets extra pissy if someone disturbs his drinking," said Squalo.

Tsuna winced.

"The Varia goes through so many glasses... and that was even after Mammon-nee switched them all to metal..."

"Don't give any to the children," sighed Lindy. Though she would be inquiring as to where he found that.

"Che. I'm not that shitty trash who doesn't know what family actually means," said Xanxus. Tsuna barely reacted, knowing _exactly_ who his big brother meant.

"Language!"


	5. Chapter 5

**I LIVE! Sorry folks, it's been a rather unpleasant month and my mother just got out of the hospital.**

* * *

" _Are you sure about this, Lindy-san?"_ asked the general.

"While I dislike their line of work...the fact of the matter is this 'mafia' has control of potentially valuable assets and might be open to negotiation. It looks like the mages of this world had to resort to crime to survive and they're self regulated. Though from what this Xanxus has told me, the original group who first pulled them together into something close to an organized stated was more in line with a group of vigilantes trying to fight off a corrupt regime. It was the one after them that made it into a 'criminal' organization."

" _So it's possible that if they were given an alternative, they could be converted to a more...lawful...way of life. Or at the very least it would give us a working base for opening up a possibility to turn NA#97 into an Allied Planet."_

Finding out NA#97, aka Earth, _did_ in fact have a working mage society was a surprise. Learning that they had turned to crime out of necessity was something they weren't expecting, but they could work with it.

There was some hope that if one of the major "Familigias" chose to revert it back to the way this Giotto had started out, that the rest or at least the majority would follow suit.

" _And the other matter?"_

"Officially the Book of Darkness case is closed. Unofficially they've agreed to work on a probationary basis alongside Takamachi-san since her brother is their master. So long as we don't provoke them they could become strong allies."

" _I see. That's good to hear. Admiral Graham might not accept that so easily however."_

Lindy winced.

Graham had been one of the witnesses to her husband's sacrifice to save his men. Ever since he became obsessed with the book.

"Here's to hoping he never learns it's become active again."

She really didn't want to fight the Wolkenritter, who were just as much victims of whatever had infected the book as her husband.

And if Graham found out Tsuna-kun was the new Master... he wouldn't just piss off the Knights, but a large group of trained assassins.

Lindy very much would like to keep Xanxus and his men her ally. She didn't want to see what would happen if this "Varia" decided to eliminate them.

Graham was from Earth. If he targeted Tsuna, there was no doubt in her mind that Xanxus would come after him. Besides, the poor kid had suffered enough.

* * *

"So how is your training going?" asked Nanoha a week later.

" _It seems Reinforce has a program that lets you fly. It's helped a lot with my Sky Flames, even if the wings are purely decorative. Except I can't use magic with her help without using up pages."_

"Poor thing," said Nanoha with mock sympathy.

" _Laugh it up nee-chan. Not all of us are natural math geniuses that can keep up with Mammon-nee,"_ said Tsuna sticking out his tongue. _"So have you found out who your mystery rival is?"_

Nanoha winced.

"Her name is Fate. I think she's being abused, or at least heavily bullied."

After helping rehabilitate Tsuna when he first became her brother, she knew the signs. No one dared to harass him now, but he still had days when he reverted back to his skittish self. Fate had the same eyes he did, and she didn't think it was simply because her peers thought her an easy target.

Considering how 'dedicated' Fate was to this "Mother", she wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the one hurting Fate was the same woman who sent her to collect the seeds in the first place.

Family meant everything to Nanoha. It was one of the lessons that Xanxus gave them on why that her parents not only approved of, but endorsed.

You can argue with them, have fights and not speak to each other... but when it came down to it Family sticks together, especially when facing an enemy that you couldn't fight alone. It was the main reason her parents even allowed Xanxus near their children.

Tsuna was Family, and since he was adopted by the Takamachi clan that meant they were too. It didn't hurt that Nanoha stood up to Belphegor at his worst and didn't back down.

It wasn't a stretch to say that the Takamachi were firmly under Xanxus' protection. Which meant the chances of a repeat of what happened to the main line were extremely low, because Xanxus _would_ make a point to come after anyone stupid enough to try and bomb their family get together again.

He had already dealt with the fools responsible once he decided they were Family.

Shiro didn't know whether to be happy that the ones who killed off several cousins, aunts and uncles were dead, or unhappy at the loss of life.

At least his children's future was secured.

" _I know you Nanoha-nee. If you can convince her you can help, I'd be glad to meet her. She could probably use someone who understands what's she's going through."_

While Iemitsu had never physically abused him, and Nana had always been in her own little world, Tsuna knew what extreme emotional abuse could do, even indirectly. Having someone who had been through the same thing would help a _lot_ in helping her recover from it.

Tsuna was about to say something, but he heard Squalo's shouting.

" _I gotta go, Nanoha-nee. I think Xanxus-nii wants me to do more training...or more lessons."_

"Have fun, Tsuna-nii," laughed Nanoha. He stuck his tongue out at her before signing off.

She giggled. Poor Tsuna had to deal with Xanxus-nii and his training...and she knew from brief experience that his training was rough.

Feeling another Jewel Seed activate, Nanoha sighed.

At least she had the chance of seeing Fate again.

* * *

 _With Tsuna..._

"Alright brat, today you're going to be training with one of Mammon's...friends," said Xanxus.

"Friends as in imaginary, or real?" asked Tsuna.

He heard a chuckle behind him. Looking behind and down, he found a Chinese toddler...with a red pacifier.

"Oh, you mean _that_ sort of friend..." said Tsuna weakly. He bent down to the man's level and held out a hand. _"Hello, sir."_

Fon smiled at him, and something unwound in his chest. Either for at least trying to look him in the eye or his clumsy attempt at Chinese.

"Hello little one. Mammon says you're more of a hand-to-hand fighter than one who uses weapons," he said pleasantly.

"Only because all the Flame-reactive weapons outside of my staff keep blowing up on me, and I can't use it because it would mean having to absorb more Flames from others."

Tsuna, with the seal removed, was a natural hand-to-hand fighter. Luss had been training him in Muy Thai, but having a bit of diversity wouldn't hurt.

Hence why Mammon suggested Fon, the Storm Arcobaleno. He was a master in multiple styles and was strong enough to handle anything Tsuna might accidentally throw at him.

Besides, if Mammon filled a hundred pages when Xanxus and Nanoha had barely filled sixty on their own, then who knew what adding more of the Arcobaleno might do?

Fon eyed the two who would be training with him. One had the feel of a 'wolf' and the other was the young Vongola child. He had a kind aura around him that felt soothing, for lack of a better word.

"Let's see how good you are and work from that," said Fon smiling. He was being paid very well to train Tsuna and possibly Zafira. Both in gold and in the agreement that the Varia would owe him a favor later.

That had been the tipping point for Fon, and allowed him to avoid the Triads. One didn't snub something as big as a favor from the Varia of all groups.

* * *

 _A few weeks later..._

Fon was rather pleased with Tsuna's progress. Zafira was easily enough to handle... once he demonstrated a few new styles that could easily be incorporated into his fighting skills, the wolf had gone looking for videos online to help. He mostly refined them with Fon's help...though the Gyoza Kenpo was firmly out of his grasp. Being a canine, the overpowering smell of garlic tended to leave the poor man bedridden for hours.

Tsuna, however... Fon could honestly claim the boy was a sponge. He picked up the basics very quickly and Fon learned to tune out Xanxus shouting out homework questions and throwing things at the boy when he got them wrong. It seemed Tsuna was a child who learned faster by doing than studying.

They had just finished today's set when a loud, jarring sound started going off. It wasn't the alarms... Xanxus had let them hear a recording of those with a pair of headphones... but it was definitely attention getting.

"VOI! What the hell is making that racket?!" shouted Squalo.

Reinforce threw open a window with her hand.

" _Thank the stars we were able to reach you! Nanoha was fighting the girl for the Jewel Seeds and they were suddenly attacked!"_ said Yuuno.

"What's going on?"

" _We've captured Fate and her familiar and Lindy wants to stage a siege on the Garden of Time where Fate's mother is located. She wanted to know if you were able to join in since she doesn't think the woman will go quietly... she said and I quote 'We're almost certainly going to need Suns if what Aruf said was right'. I think it had something to do with Fate's older sister Alicia."_

Xanxus blinked.

"This is a test of some sort, isn't it?" said Xanxus.

" _She didn't say it specifically, but I think she wants to have an unbiased evaluation on how Flames compare to magic in a combat situation,"_ admitted Yuuno.

"We're in," said Xanxus grinning.

"I shall join as well. I would like to see how well my students react to live combat," said Fon smoothly.

" _ **Does this have anything to do with the strange bond between your linker core and my Master?"**_ asked Reinforce, looking at Fon oddly.

"You can sense Guardian bonds?" said Xanxus.

" _ **There is a strange link between him and the wind. Almost like a soul bond between them,"**_ replied Reinforce.

"We are so testing that out when this is over. Until now let's get everyone ready for a decent fight and possible capture," said Xanxus, in full combat-mode.

There was a somewhat mad scramble between the Varia and the Wolkenritter. Fon sat calmly on Tsuna's shoulder... because now that he was looking at his Flames he could feel a fledgling Guardian bond between them.

Unlike in the past, Tsuna hadn't tried to force it into being. Instead it happened over the course of their training together.

It felt...nice. Like he was laying against a lion cub radiating warmth and peace, one that would defend it's pride without hesitation.

He could definitely do worse for a Sky.

 _On the Arthra..._

Lindy merely blinked at the addition of Fon, but Nanoha had quickly greeted him warmly. Especially when she found out he had bonded with Tsuna already.

"Here's what we know about the situation. According to Aruf and Fate, the Garden is guarded entirely by autonomous sentries. The only people there are Prescia and a girl in a stasis tube. We need to get Prescia away from the seeds, and with any luck we might at least be able to secure the tube."

"That's where we come in, darling~!" chirped Luss. Some of the crew looked rather unsettled around the man, but that could be for any number of reasons. "If that girl is still alive we should be able to tell by her Flames. If all that's in there is a brain dead corpse...well..."

Lindy nodded. Having gotten a general idea of "Flames" from Xanxus, she knew that if the girl had any left, then odds were she _might_ be saved. If not, then at least the poor child would get an overdue burial. Prescia's life was secondary to getting those seeds back before something bad happened.

"So basically we're fighting robots," Mammon summed up. "I won't be of much use in that case."

"Shishishi... does this mean I get to go all out?" said Belphegor eagerly.

"You're with Nanoha's group," said Chrono.

"Voi. We only take orders from the boss," said Squalo annoyed.

"Which is why Xanxus and his contingent will try to secure Alicia. With any luck you'll distract Prescia enough that we can secure the seeds, since you don't have anything to store them with," said Lindy. "Just please, if at all possible try not to kill her?"

"We're the Varia," said Xanxus bluntly. "We might handle a lot of wet-work contracts but we _do_ know how to capture without permanently maiming someone in the process."

"And what will our group be doing?" asked Fon.

"I would like you to stay on the Arthra and watch Fate. I don't want her running off to do something stupid unless she can handle acting with us."

Tsuna nodded.

"I can have a talk with her. If anyone can understand the pain she went through, it's me," said Tsuna.

Nanoha had made the first step to helping Fate overcome the trauma done by her 'mother'. If anyone understood the pain of a parent basically abandoning their child, or worse, openly neglecting them like Prescia had it would be Tsuna. He hadn't gone through anything serious, but he could completely emphasize.

Iemitsu had done quite a bit of damage, even if he didn't realize it.

"We need to secure those seeds. If you're all ready, we can start immediately," said Lindy.

* * *

Fate was empty inside. Prescia had only made her to replace a daughter she had lost. And she never considered Fate her child.

There was a knock on the door, and a head poked in. It was a boy about her age with brown hair and kind eyes.

"Hi. Are you Fate?"

She couldn't even bring herself to nod.

The boy came in and took a chair.

"My name is Tsuna. Takamachi Tsuna. Nanoha's my older sister, and she's told me about you."

Fate flinched. She felt a warm, gentle hand on her cheek.

"I know exactly what it's like, being abandoned by someone who should have protected you. To be betrayed because they didn't actually care about you, only themselves."

Fate looked him in the eye, furious. How could someone raised in a family so kind as to create someone like Nanoha understand?

But she saw something in his eyes. A sort of empathy that Nanoha had, but didn't fully understand.

The kind you only got from experiencing the same pain yourself, and knowing exactly what the other person was going through.

"Who?" she whispered, trying not to cry.

"When I was five my father demanded, without any research on what would happen or care about the consequences, to seal my linker core to the point I was a shell of who I could be. It was so bad I had trouble connecting with others, my body couldn't react properly, and my mind was clouded. All because he couldn't be bothered to do his job as a father and be there for me. He didn't even come when my mother died, even though countless attempts were made to contact him."

Fate couldn't stop her tears. She could _feel_ his betrayal, the pain he had felt realizing his own father hated him so much that he would do something so horrible to a child who was completely defenseless.

"I was treated as a scapegoat for the other children. Until my father, Shiro, adopted me into his family, I never knew what it was like to be genuinely loved for who I was. To be accepted as a family member without question and treated with real kindness. Nanoha had to lay down the law for the other children to leave me alone until they learned she wouldn't tolerate everyone picking on me for something I had no control over. What that woman did to you was not your fault. It never was and never will be."

Fate couldn't stop crying. Especially when Tsuna pulled her into a warm hug. It was like cuddling with Linith before she died.

"It's okay, Fate. You don't have to be alone anymore. You can be one of us. We'll never hold the actions of the woman who _should_ have been your mother against you."

A firm resolve formed in Fate's chest. A sort of unbreakable will to at least make the first step into making amends. Unknown to her, the Flames that lay dormant started to surge forward...and connected to Tsuna's Sky.

For the first time in her life, she felt at peace. Like she had found the home she had always searched for, but didn't dare hope to find.

"I want to help," said Fate, once she wiped her eyes with the tissue Tsuna handed her.

"Then we'll be right by your side, making sure that you can stand up to her," said Tsuna, holding her hand.

Fate nodded, shakily.

"Bardiche?"

 _ **Recovery.**_

The Device fixed the damage done by Prescia's assault. It drew on the newly awakened Flames inside it's Master.

 _ **Stand by Ready. Set up.**_

Fon looked at Fate's determined face with approval.

"She's a strong Lightning."

Tsuna blinked.

"Somehow, that figures she would be a Lightning Flame, considering Nanoha complained about how every time they fought her hair got all frizzy," grinned Tsuna.

Seeing Fate's confused expression, he grinned at her. She felt warmth spark in her chest.

"We'll explain things later, when this is over."

She nodded.


	6. Chapter 6

Prescia was pissed, but she wasn't stupid enough to try and fight her way out. Not only was she almost dead to begin with, but the men who had captured her weren't playing around.

Even she wasn't foolish enough to piss off _assassins_ who only kept her alive because the damn TSAB woman told them to keep her alive if possible. And what were they doing to her precious Alicia?!

The young boy who her fake child was clinging to for support looked at her and openly winced.

"Xanxus-nii, I think she's in Discord," said the brat.

The leader of the men, with red eyes and feathers in his hair, snorted.

"That was pretty damn obvious once we got our hands on her. Be glad the green haired woman told us not to kill you, otherwise we would have put you out of your misery already," he snorted.

"Discord?" repeated the woman.

"It's what happens when a Flame user loses all control over their Flames and it turns on them. It's never pretty. When a Flame goes into Discord, they generally go insane and try to take as many down with them as possible. Which is why the usual standard protocol is to simply put them down quickly," explained the man who was examining Alicia. His glowing yellow hand moved over the tube. "Well it looks like there is some hope. Her Flames are present, if dormant. She _might_ wake up if we connect her to a proper Sky, but it's very slim."

Prescia stared in shock.

"How do we do that?" asked the younger boy. An Enforcer if she recognized that coat.

"Tsuna-kun, we're going to need Reinforce's help with this. Maybe all the girl really needs is a kick start to tell her it's okay to wake up. And possibly some help from that adorable Lightning you've acquired," cooed the man.

Prescia was removed, and would only be told the results after the fact.

But the mere fact that there _was_ a chance to bring Alicia back was more than she could bear. She wanted her precious daughter back.

"This feel really weird and I don't like it," said Tsuna.

"I know brat, but it's the best chance the girl has. Directly connecting to her Inactive Flames and coaxing them to life with your new Lightning with Mammon's help could wake her up without complications," said Xanxus patiently. He didn't like it either.

* * *

Fate held onto Tsuna's hand, her hand coated with green lightning that mostly tingled. Her ability to use Flames was still too new for her to fully control it.

"Mu. Are you ready?" asked Mammon.

Tsuna and Fate nodded.

"Then let's begin. Tsuna, take hold of Alicia's linker core and touch her Flames," said Mammon. The Mist waited for him to make the connection before they connected to Alicia's dormant mind.

Tsuna released his Sky Flames, coating them with the gentle lightning of Fate. Meanwhile Mammon reached for Alicia's mind, to try and coax her back into the waking world.

There was a sudden jolt, as if Alicia had been hit with a defibrillator. Her core shined bright, and there was the golden Flames of Sun with green Lightning. Mammon began to sweat under her cloak, exerting more of the indigo Mist into Alicia.

Gold and green reached for the orange flame...before being absorbed by the orange fire. The linker core was absorbed into Reinforce, adding a scant thirty pages. Orange fire retreated into the gold and green fire, creating a link between them.

Alicia's body let off a second jolt upwards, as her eyes flew open and she gasped air for the first time in decades.

Tsuna released her linker core and flames, and Mammon retreated from the girl's mind.

Alicia looked around in shock.

"Where... where am I?" she asked, her voice cracking from disuse and shock.

Her eyes immediately went to Fate, who looked ready to cry from relief.

"You're on the TSAB cruiser, the Arthra. You've been sleeping for a very long time due to an accident. We had to do some...unusual...methods to wake you up without causing harm," said Tsuna gently.

"Who are you?" asked Alicia, looking in shock at Fate.

"I'm your sister, Fate."

"I'm Tsuna, your Sky. It's great to meet you, Alicia-chan," said Tsuna.

"Mu. Call me Mammon," said the Mist, floating to rest on Tsuna's shoulder.

"Tch. I am Xanxus."

"And this is my Unison Device, Reinforce," said Tsuna, nodding to the silver haired woman. "How do you feel?"

"Really sleepy...and warm."

The door opened, revealing Lindy and the others. Her eyes widened in shock, seeing Alicia awake before they became warm.

This was going to be hell to explain to her superiors, but she wasn't about to enlighten them if she could help it.

Better to keep this quiet until Tsuna was busted as the Master of the Wolkenritter.

"So Fate has to go with you to Midchilda to testify against her mother's actions and hopefully get put on probation for a while," said Tsuna. He wasn't particularly happy with that news.

Lindy nodded, though she clearly wasn't pleased with the fact that Prescia would have to be put down after confirming what the Varia told her about her mental state. At least they agreed to make it quick and as painless as possible.

After seeing the power of Flames bring back a comatose child, she was inclined to believe them about the fact Prescia had gone into "discord". The state of her linker core was telling enough.

"Fortunately there are cases of bonds like the one between your big brother and his 'Guardians', so the case could be made that Fate stay in your custody while operating from Earth," said Lindy.

"What about Alicia?" asked Nanoha.

"Considering the nature of her...resurrection... and the fact we have no idea if it's permanent or not, she will be placed in the custody of someone who has access to the medical equipment needed. Shamal will monitor her linker core and make regular reports on that end," said Lindy.

"Huh?"

"Xanxus is adopting her as his daughter, and Shamal will make sure there's no side effects with her linker core from being brought back," clarified Chrono. "Considering we have enough of a mess to deal with thanks to Prescia and Fate's involvement, we'd like to keep Alicia quiet for as long as we can."

"Oh. Why didn't you just say so?" said Nanoha.

"How does Alicia feel about this?" asked Tsuna.

"I don't want to replace my mother, especially since I still remember her before she went bad. But I've never had a father figure before," said Alicia. Xanxus looked embarrassed, but everyone could tell he was happy with the arrangement.

He was technically responsible for raising Belphegor after all, even if it was more in line with keeping him on a leash and letting him do his own thing. At least Xanxus didn't lie to her about the fact she was adopted, and with her eyes no one would really question it.

They'd likely think she was his daughter from that alone.

"Besides, considering how you brought her back I don't think separating you two this soon would be a good idea, brat," said Xanxus.

"What about Fate?"

"She's likely to be brought back on probation, so it's fine. You can make up for the distance once she's free. Of course if the judges decide to come down with a case of Stupid on the same level as that moron..." said Xanxus, leaving the threat hanging.

Lindy winced.

"Considering her age and the way she was raised, I doubt it would come to that," said Lindy, cringing at the mere idea of the Varia deciding to take matters into their own hands and retrieving Fate...almost certainly with the assistance of the Wolkenritter.

The memory of the damage she saw from Xanxus when he let loose was terrifying enough. They didn't need to add the Cloud Knights _and_ whatever spells Reinforce had loaded on Mid Childa for a misunderstanding.

"Where is Fate?" asked Alicia hopefully.

"Saying good bye to Nanoha," said Tsuna, before an evil grin came upon his face. "I bet a thousand she ends up having to share Nanoha with Bel."

Xanxus snorted.

"I bet five thousand Belphegor approaches her first and they come to an agreement before blindsiding the brat," said Xanxus.

Lindy smirked.

"Well if we're going to have fun with that sort of thing... I bet seven fifty that Nanoha has to unleash one of her cannon blasts to get them to quit arguing before telling them she likes them both," said Lindy.

"Mom!"

Xanxus smirked.

"Deal. You mind holding the usual odds, Mammon?" asked Tsuna.

"Mu. As if I would do otherwise," said Mammon smirking.

Nanoha sneezed on Earth, and scowled.

"Someone's making bets about me again."

* * *

Alicia took the news her new 'father' was in fact the head of a very powerful group of assassins well. The Varia accepted that Xanxus had taken in a girl who had the same eyes as him...well enough. If by that one meant that Xanxus threatened death or worse if he found out any of them were responsible for any information leaked on the girl. She was promptly thrown into training with Tsuna, who she looked up to as an older brother.

She might miss her mother, but now she had a much bigger family, all of whom were more than happy to unleash chaos or worse at a moment's notice to help her. It was...nice. And Sorella was awesome, if really weird. He kept turning her into a dress-up doll, and he cooed when she started wearing feathers like Xanxus did in her hair.

Of course that sparked another amusing incident which would be spoken of in hushed whispers by the Varia and the Vongola.

 _With Tsuna_

"You want to what?" said Luss incredulous.

Tsuna grinned.

"Well I figure with Alicia emulating Xanxus-nii, why not join in on the fun and give Nono a heart attack of having two others like him?"

"Tell me more..." said Luss grinning.

"Well you know how there's going to be a big ball at the Vongola mansion where a bunch of smaller Familigias will be at? What if I went with Alicia as her 'date' with my hair the same style and color as Xanxus-nii, complete with the feathers and some red contacts? Except we don't tell him what we're up to so we can surprise him," grinning Tsuna.

Luss let out a hoot of laughter. Xanxus would act all tough and embarrassed, but he'd probably be thrilled at the idea once he got over his shock. Especially since Tsuna could walk up behind people and pretend to be the Boss and scare a few of the idiots.

It would be hilarious.

"I'm in, but we'll need to bring Mammon in at least," said Luss grinning.

As it turned out, all the officers other than Levi were quick to join in on the minor prank. Alicia had giggled when she found out about it, and Fon agreed to bring a camera with him to capture Xanxus' expression when he saw the new look.

Luss took Tsuna in to the hair stylist the Varia favored in the early morning hours. Mammon would hide the new look until it was almost time to leave, even if Xanxus really didn't enjoy going.

Except Nono wanted to meet Alicia, so they had to.

Didn't mean he had to like it though.

Xanxus looked irritable waiting for the others to come down, so he had to do a doubletake when he saw Tsuna's look. Fon snapped multiple pictures of his shock, which turned to embarrassment and hidden pride.

"You're going to scare the hell out of everyone with that look," said Xanxus grinning fiercely. You could tell he was enjoying this, even if he was a bit surprised.

"Oh trust me, Nanoha-nee about died laughing when she saw what I looked like," grinned Tsuna. He almost looked like a mini Xanxus, except the grin wasn't so vindictive or angry.

She also demanded pictures of everyone's reactions.

* * *

The party was a total headache. Not a single person was being truthful at all and it made Tsuna's head hurt from the conflicting signals. On the plus side, his irritation made the whole "mini Xanxus" thing work perfectly, to the point he was even able to fool those that had known Xanxus when he was younger.

Seeing two of them was absolutely hilarious.

"Ciaossu," said an "infant" with a chameleon. He was riding some poor teen with a terrified look on his face.

Tsuna eyed him, before he said tiredly "You're the Sun Arcobaleno Reborn, aren't you?"

Reborn blinked.

Tsuna then turned to the slightly surprised teenager.

"Which makes you the poor bastard known as Dino of the Cavallone family."

Dino blinked this time.

"Have we met?"

"No, but Viper keeps tabs on the other Arcobaleno. They mentioned you took an assignment to train the new Decimo of the Cavallone Familigia," said Tsuna.

"Interesting. Who are you?"

Tsuna smirked.

"You really think someone being trained by Xanxus-nii would be stupid enough to give away their name to the world's greatest hit man? Especially when it could get back to the wrong people?"

Reborn smirked.

"Ah, but I'm partially allied with the Vongola."

"And Nono has not earned even an iota of my trust considering how badly he's screwed up his family. Between Enrico not having proper guardians to the mess he almost caused by not telling Xanxus-nii the truth outright, I have no reason to trust him at all."

"Natsu-nii, Xanxus-papa said we'll be leaving soon," said Alicia.

"Okay. It was nice to meet you, Dino-san, Reborn-san," said Tsuna with a polite bow.

Reborn watched him leave, and odd look on his face.

"How interesting."

His interest only doubled when he saw Fon of all people joining the boy, looking completely relaxed. Reborn briefly 'pinged' towards the other Arcobaleno. He had known someone was there, because of the pacifier, but not which one.

Fon had harmonized with someone not even a teenager? Definitely fascinating!

Reborn had little idea he would end up meeting the same boy again, a few years later...

* * *

"Someone mind explaining why there's a grumpy Storm kid in the base?" asked Alicia.

Xanxus looked very peeved about something.

"One of the minor Familigias has a son he didn't want, and they were using him as a test dummy for their heiress and her skill at poisons, who happened to be his sister. So I happened to let it drop that I was training a Sky brat about the same age who didn't have a proper Storm and they dumped him on Levi the first chance they had," said Xanxus.

Tsuna winced. That was a sure fire way to piss off Xanxus-nii, treating family like that. Fon was a good Storm, but using him as the primary would be way too much overkill. Like Unisoning with Reinforce to take out the robots in Garden of Time and unleashing one of the bigger spells.

He had stuck to Flame attacks for a good reason.

"Well the trash could be a good Storm if he got that chip off his shoulder," said Xanxus.

There was a sudden crash, and they raced to find... the new kid fighting with Belphegor who looked eager to gut him. Considering the kid was throwing dynamite at the Ripper Prince with a scowl on his face, keeping them anywhere near each other was a disaster waiting to happen.

"VOI! KNOCK THAT SHIT OFF!" shouted Squalo.

"He started it!" shouted the new brat.

"Voi! I don't give a shit who started it, I'm finishing it!" said Squalo, holding his sword threateningly.

"When did Squalo become a mom?" mock whispered Tsuna.

"Well he does have the hair and face for it..." Alicia mock-whispered back.

"VOI! I HEARD THAT YOU BRATS!"

Xanxus had a headache. However he looked at Fon who seemed openly amused and idea hit him.

He was not dealing with this shit, and maybe if the new brat got his ass handed to him by someone who knew how to do more with high grade explosives than the Varia ever bothered with he'd shape up to be a proper Guardian for Tsuna. That, and it meant getting Alicia far away from Nono for some time.

"Alright trash, listen up!" shouted Xanxus. Immediate quiet hit. "Brat, if you start throwing bombs inside again I will personally have your balls."

The brat looked sullen but wisely didn't argue.

"That being said, I'm not about to train you on top of these two... which is why you lot are going to be spending a few months in Mafia Land's backstage."

Tsuna blinked.

"You want them to learn under Colonello, I take it?" said Fon.

"We don't mess with explosives enough to make training this little shit worth my time, and it keeps them out of my hair for a while. Not to mention it will toughen up the brats until Fate returns."

Tsuna didn't need much more training with him anyway, as the kid had an instinctive ability to use Flames. And he didn't want the headache of explaining to the Takamachi family about the new brat until he got his head out of his ass. Especially if he used bombs as weapons.

It would only draw Iemitsu to find Tsuna and that was something he wanted to avoid if at all possible.


	7. Chapter 7

Colonello was adorable. So much so Alicia couldn't help her reaction by immediately hugging the stuffing out of him while Fon snickered...and took multiple pictures.

"So you're the rookies the Varia sent, kora! You don't look like potential Quality!" said Colonello once he got over being hugged. He didn't make Alicia put him down though.

"We're not recruits. Xanxus-nii said he wasn't going to train Hayato since the Varia doesn't really _do_ explosives that much and it was too risky for him to join us in Uminari until he learned to calm down," sighed Tsuna.

Because right now Hayato (for that was the Storm kid's name) was acting like a typical hot headed Storm. One made even more volatile by the way his family treated him and determined to prove himself for a potential Sky if it meant being free of his father's influence forever.

The silver haired kid scowled, but said nothing.

Colonello looked at Fon curiously.

"I'm with him," said Fon, patting Tsuna. "At most I'll be training the children in how to fight since Tsuna-kun has a real knack for it."

"And them?" asked Colonello, pointing at the Wolkenritter.

"We're their minders slash chaperons. We'll join in on any exercises, but for the most part this is to get them into proper shape until Alicia's sister returns," said Signum.

"Don't expect me to take it easy on you because you're kids, kora."

Tsuna rolled his eyes.

"Just keep it within the reasonable limitations of children under twelve with two active Flames and one Inactive who've been around the Varia for a few months that have to do homework," he replied. He pointed at Hayato. "We're mostly hoping that once he figures out we're not going to abandon him he'll calm down enough to be safe around civilian life without blowing Omerta."

Colonello grinned viciously.

"We're going to have fun, kora!"

"Oh, and don't tell Lal Mirch about anyone by the name of Tsuna training under you. The less chance of that man showing up on the basis of a rumor, the happier we'll all be," said Tsuna flatly.

"Not going to ask why, kora," said Colonello.

* * *

 _Three months later..._

It was quiet in Uminari. Nanoha was rather bored, since Tsuna was still off in training with Alicia and Fate hadn't come back. Things were so boring without the chaos Tsuna attracted!

As if in response to her 'wish', the entire room was encased in a barrier meant to keep civilians out.

Nanoha stood in alarm.

She rushed outside to try and find out what was going on, only to be attacked without warning.

Fortunately, her training with Mammon and Belphegor at avoiding sudden attacks kicked in and she defended.

However it was the 'attacker' that told her something was up.

Why would Vita attack her like that? She knew it would upset Tsuna, and her magic was already absorbed by the book right after Fate left for her trial!

Nanoha narrowed her eyes, unconsciously drawing on her irritation and releasing a controlled dose of KI.

"Who are you? Why are you attacking me?"

'Vita' shivered for a moment before sneering. She released more of the balls at her and the fake Graf Eisen only looked like it moved as the real one did.

But the magic felt wrong, and more importantly the 'Flame sense' Mammon showed her said that this was definitely not Vita.

This felt more like a Mist user trying to pull a fast one.

"Raging Heart, set up!"

 _ **Stand by Ready. Set Up.**_

Armed for a fight, Nanoha glared at the obvious fake.

"I don't know who you're trying to fool, but since you're not the real Vita I'm sure Xanxus-nii would love to have a word with you," she said scowling.

The fake blinked in surprise that Nanoha had identified who they were pretending to be so fast. And that they knew they were a fake.

A second attack came from behind, looking like a fake Zafira.

Nanoha rolled her eyes.

"Really? If you're going to pretend to be Vita and Zafira, you could do a better job at it," she said flatly.

The two didn't speak, but went on the assault. In the hands of 'Vita' was a copy of the Book of Darkness.

No way in hell was she going to let them damage Reinforce's reputation more than it already was for something she didn't have control over! The Wolkenritter and Reinforce had suffered enough!

Unseen by Nanoha, her eyes began to glow from an internal light. Red, violet and gold flames covered her hands. The violet was the predominate color, while the red and gold were more of a wisp than anything.

The moment Nanoha registered the fire on her hands, she blinked before recognition hit.

"So I'm an inverted Cloud. Weird."

She knew about the Flame types, mostly through Tsuna and joining him in learning about them from Xanxus.

Clouds were able to multiply things...like her Starlight Breaker. However they were the second rarest because most of them didn't like being around people that much.

Inverted ones, on the other hand...

Nanoha's grin was vicious. Time to play with these two fakes and teach them a lesson in attacking the wrong people.

If anyone saw the look on her face, they'd immediately claim she spent far too much time to be healthy around a certain Prince. The only thing missing was the bangs covering her eyes and the sinister laughter.

Raging Heart was sharp enough to double as the knives Belphegor favored.

'Vita' looked at 'Zafira'.

"Do you get the distinct feeling..."

"That we are totally boned and are only realizing our mistake now?" 'he' replied. 'He' looked at the grinning Nanoha and flinched. "Let's just try and take the core and get the hell out of here before that grinning White Devil tries to kill us."

There was a sudden blast of purple fire tinged with pink energy.

"I heard that! I am not a White Devil!" Nanoha said irate.

The two shared a look. She scowled and looked even more irritated.

Why did that stupid nickname keep cropping up?!

* * *

 _Outside the barrier..._

"Fate-nee!"

Fate was promptly tackled by a very enthusiastic Alicia. She heard someone snickering.

"So that's her 'little' sister?" said the snickering one.

"It's complicated, but yeah. Good thing Reinforce picked up on the Arthra coming," said Tsuna snickering.

"Hello, Alicia," said Fate. It was awkward, but she could tell her sister was genuinely happy to see her. She looked over to see Tsuna with a new 'toddler' on his shoulder. "So who's he?"

"This is Colonello, the Rain Arcobaleno. We've been training with him for a few months since Xanxus-nii accidentally dumped a new Storm Guardian on me," said Tsuna.

"Nice to meet you, kora!" said the cheerful blond with the white bird on his helmet.

"Trouble! There's a barrier over Uminari!" shouted Amy.

Any humor in their meeting dropped.

"What," said Signum crossly.

"Any chance Nanoha isn't in middle of it?" said Yuuno hopefully.

"No bet. You know she'd never let this go lying down and would investigate if only out of boredom," said Tsuna.

"Alright, we can warp you outside the barrier limits, but I can't send anyone official with you," said Lindy.

"Fair enough," said Signum, sighing.

"Actually why don't the Wolkenritter stay outside the barrier. Just in case we need someone to bring it down in a hurry," said Tsuna. His Hyper Intuition was telling him that it would be a bad idea for the Knights to be seen this early.

"I can hold onto the actual book, and you can Unison with Reinforce to throw people off. Stick to Flame attacks though," said Signum.

"Agreed. The less people realize I'm the current Master, the better off we'll be in the long run. It's going to be bad enough with Alicia, if whoever is doing this realizes who she is," said Tsuna.

Three months with Colonello and learning battle tactics from him and Signum had resulted in a marked change in the pre-teen. It was hard to believe he had been sealed for a few short years, because his Flames burned so brightly.

Colonello definitely didn't regret harmonizing with the kid. Especially when he got a taste of inter-planetary teleportation. Being able to blow things up without having to hear someone bitch about it was totally worth the price of losing his neutrality!

He was going to get along far too well with Nanoha, considering her habit of "big" spells that caused so much collateral damage they required barriers to keep things from getting out of hand.

The Rain couldn't wait to finally get his favorite weapon upgraded to a Belka-device, mostly so he could carry it around and not have to worry so much about the weight. Even if using magic was really weird.

Fon had left for China, mostly because an old friend of his was having a child and they wanted him to train the little one once they were old enough to handle the basics.

That, and he really needed to stock up on some of the more...local spices...since it was nearly impossible to get them from Italy or Japan. And he needed to get some new clothes as most of his were rather worn at this point.

Once outside the barrier, it was a simple matter for Hayato to melt his way through using his Storm flames.

As they had hoped, he had calmed down considerably when he realized Tsuna wasn't going to abandon him and was more than happy to treat him like a friend.

Besides, he was being overrun by girls. He needed a guy friend to balance them out... though he had to accept the head slap from Alicia when he said that in her hearing.

She was really picking up way too much from Xanxus who made a point to visit, or at least call through Reinforce often. He seemed to take the role of 'father' well, considering who his role models for the task were.

Tsuna took one look at the cackling Nanoha, before face-palming with a horrified look.

"Oh god. We have _got_ to keep her away from Belphegor for a while. She's having way too much fun playing hide and seek with those fakes!"

Because all that was missing from the image were the knives, crown and sinister laughter.

"Agreed," said Fate.

"I don't know, she looks like she's having fun!" said Alicia with an evil grin. "Shishishi..."

"You are not allowed near him alone ever again," said Fate flatly.

The fake Vita and Zafira almost looked _relieved_ to see the newcomers, since it meant the girl would be distracted from attacking them.

Tsuna flew up to his sister and noticed something.

"Hey, you awakened your Flames!" he said happily.

"Yup! I'm a Cloud with Storm and Sun!" she said grinning, showing off the violet with streaks of gold and red.

"An inverted Cloud, maybe," agreed Tsuna.

With the sudden arrival of the others, Nanoha allowed her Flames to die off...only to be caught by Tsuna and Yuuno.

"It happens to all first time users. Too bad there's no Cloud Officer we could call to train her," said Tsuna.

"Could always ask the Lackey to do it. He's an inverted Cloud and he might do it for free," offered Colonello.

"Lackey?" repeated Tsuna.

"The Cloud Arcobaleno. Goes by the name Skull and has an armored octopus as a pet. Bit of a braggart, but a total coward," clarified Colonello. "Works as a stunt driver for a circus."

"No bullying him if he agrees to train Nanoha-nee," said Tsuna sternly. Colonello pouted.

* * *

"Tsuna! You're home!" said Miyuki smiling.

Tsuna accepted the hug from his older brother and sister. In celebration of him more or less completing his training with Xanxus they were having a big dinner with his favorites. It was good to be home.

"So who are your new friends?" asked Momoka happily.

"The names Colonello, kora!" said the Rain.

"I'm Alicia, Xanxus' adopted daughter," said Alicia smiling happily.

"Sooo cute!" squealed Momoka.

"Hayate's going to have fun shopping with her," said Miyuki, before a mischievous glint came to her face. "Speaking of..."

"I haven't told them I'm back yet, so if you want a good spot to get a picture I'll give you time to set up the camera to get a good one. Or Nanoha could take their surprise for you," said Tsuna.

She grinned.

"So are you by any chance like Mammon?" asked Momoka to Colonello.

"Yeah. There are eight of us cursed like this, but so far Tsuna bonded with only me and Fon. We never really got along with the Sky Arcobaleno that well, and it didn't work out when we found out she knew what was going to happen, kora," said Colonello.

"You're welcome to stay in Tsuna's room along with Zafira. Alicia, if you like you can stay in one of the guest rooms or share with Nanoha."

"I'd rather stay with Nanoha-nee-chan," said Alicia.

"It will be fun!" said Nanoha happily. Like a permanent sleepover.

"Good thing we bought those bunk beds," said Kyouya.

Miyuki nodded.

"And who is this cutie?" asked Momoka.

"This is my _official_ Storm Element, Gokudera Hayato. He's a bit rough around the edges but he's got a good heart," said Tsuna.

Hayato blushed.

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am," he said.

Momoka squealed and hugged him, causing his blush to get worse.

"Definitely a good thing we bought those bunk beds," said Kyouya. Obviously Hayato would stay in Tsuna's room.

Hayato would have an odd time adjusting to being considered part of the family. All of whom would happily challenge his father if he dared show his face or give Bianchi a telling off if she came anywhere near them with her "poison cooking".

Considering the family ran a bakery/cafe and took cooking very seriously (Hayato was a bit hesitant to take Momoka up on her offer to teach him to cook for himself), it was pretty obvious why they were somewhat offended by the notion of wasting food to poison someone.

* * *

Hayate was the first to react when she saw the familiar face.

"Tsuna-kun, you're back!"

She damn near tackled him with joy. She missed him, even if he did make a point to call at least twice a week.

"I finally finished my time abroad, so I won't be leaving Japan for a while," said Tsuna, happily catching up with his friends.

"Everyone, I would like to introduce you to two new transfers..." said the teacher.

Hayato looked uncomfortable in the uniform, but Fate looked pretty happy because she would be in the same class as Nanoha.

"That reminds me... Who is Fate staying with?" asked Tsuna.

"She said Lindy offered to adopt her, and she's unsure about separating from Alicia."

Tsuna snorted.

"I'll have a chat with her during lunch. Even if Lindy does adopt her it doesn't make her any less Family," said Tsuna.

Nanoha grinned at him.

"Going away to train with Xanxus-nii was good for you," she said happily. He seemed a lot more confident and happier.

"Family is family. Even if we're on opposite sides or split apart in different homes, it doesn't mean we'll ignore our bonds," said Tsuna nodding.

Which sounded exactly like something Xanxus would say.

"You're not going to start using foul language regularly are you?"

"Alicia started throwing things at Xanxus-nii when he started that around her. He's been using obscure languages to swear in around her," admitted Tsuna snickering. "It's become something of a game between them."

Nanoha giggled.


	8. Chapter 8

Seeing the tiny 'toddler' enter the bakery, Momoka smiled warmly. Even if it was odd seeing an octopus of all things on the bike outside.

She bent down to the same level as the helmeted figure.

"Hello. My name is Takamachi Momoka. Are you by chance the great Skull?" she asked smiling.

The figure removed it's helmet, revealing a face with purple eyes and equally purple hair.

"Colonello called me asking if I wanted to train a young Cloud girl," he said proudly, as if he was happy to be asked.

"Well Nanoha and the others will be heading this way in a few hours, so you're welcome to sit at one of the tables and wait for them. Does your friend outside need a bowl of water?" she asked politely.

Ever since they adopted little Tsuna, they met the most interesting people. Even if it was a bit strange to be considered 'neutral territory' for various mafioso and yakuza to stop by for treats. The agreement was to keep all the underworld business outside the store, or at least be discreet enough that none of the students who visited by often would pick up on it.

As a result their bakery saw a lot of business from people who wanted a quiet location they could discuss matters without weapons. It was somewhat hilarious, but Momoka wasn't ashamed to say she used Nanoha as a way to keep things civil if it even looked like things could get out of hand.

Her daughter was able to terrify grown men into behaving. She had a wall of pictures to prove it.

Skull happily accepted a large mixing bowl of salt water, and Oodako (the octopus) didn't mind the scrutiny at all.

Two hours later, Nanoha came in while debating the merits of anti-tank rifles and explosives with Colonello. The two had gotten on like a house on fire once they were properly introduced and Colonello saw what she could do with her device.

Alicia took one look at Skull and squealed before hugging him tightly. She had that same reaction to all the Arcobaleno...and it was hilarious.

"SOOO CUTE!"

Skull didn't look offended... in fact he looked more startled than anything.

"Hi, are you the great and powerful Skull-sama?" asked Nanoha grinning.

Skull shook off his surprise and nodded, grinning back. He could tell right away she was the girl Colonello had called him to train.

"Lackey," said Colonello in greeting, only to get a light headslap from Tsuna.

"No bullying Skull," said Tsuna. Colonello pouted.

Skull was outright grinning now. Something told him he was going to enjoy this place.

"So let me get this straight... this book thing can absorb Flames and record the abilities of anyone it absorbs?" said Skull, poking at the Tome of the Night Sky.

Yuuno had, at the request of Tsuna, visited the Infinity Library and gone looking for the original title of the book. It had taken him a month, in between acting as support for Fate during her trial. Needless to say Xanxus found the original title highly ironic considering Tsuna was the strongest Sky flame he had ever felt in a long time.

"Feels a bit weird, and you have to wait about a week or two for your Flames to get back to normal, but otherwise it's harmless," said Colonello.

"For some reason the Arcobaleno always seem to contribute at _least_ a hundred pages on their own. I'm not really concerned about filling the book, but I refuse to take the Flames or 'magic' from anyone who isn't willing to donate," said Tsuna firmly.

So far it was only missing two hundred pages, and Tsuna wasn't in any particular hurry to finish the book. Even if he did occasionally lose a few because of training with Reinforce, making it up had never been an issue.

Skull looked dubious, but then again he hadn't really believed the whole "magical girl" thing until he saw Nanoha practicing with Raging Heart and augmenting her Divine Buster with her Cloud Flames.

And here Tsuna thought her regular pink blast was terrifying... Divine Buster plus Cloud Flames was almost as destructive as Starlight Breaker on full power.

If that wasn't bad enough, the second Colonello saw what she did with her usual attack in addition to Cloud Flames had made him grin in a way that did not bode well for Tsuna's mellow. To say nothing of how exasperated Fate seemed to become when she saw it.

Fate seemed resigned to the realization she would likely end up the 'sane' one of the relationship with Nanoha.

Alicia snickered.

"Where's Smoking Bomb boy?" asked Colonello.

He hadn't seen Hayato in hours, and they liked to keep tabs on him because he was still having trouble adjusting to 'civilian'. He was doing better than when Tsuna first met him, but some instincts were hard for him to let go.

The number of head slaps he got when he overreacted to little things was almost comical, but he accepted the minor correction.

"He's helping at the bakery," said Alicia. She was hugging Oodako who definitely didn't mind being in her arms.

"So he finally took on the offer to learn how to cook?" said Nanoha.

"More like he didn't want to feel like he was living off charity, so in order to earn his 'allowance' he has to help out at the store," clarified Fate. She could commiserate.

Tsuna was there as well, mostly because it kept Hayato calm and gave him someone to talk to. Besides, he liked to help with the baking.

"So...any leads on those fakes?" asked Colonello.

"None. The case report on the 'Book of Darkness' was deliberately misfiled to avoid scrutiny from one of the admirals. It's bad enough someone's been asking questions about Alicia, since a video of her fighting with Fate was seen," said Yuuno.

"All I know was that the idiots who attacked me were Mists, and not very good ones," said Nanoha rolling her eyes. "Mammon-nee could have kicked their butts in the illusion department."

"Said the girl who literally spams magical attacks that need barriers around the area to avoid having to pay for clean up," said Alicia grinning.

Nanoha openly pouted.

"Lindy said that since I'm using a Device that I can't skip out on the repair bills if I forget to create a barrier. Otherwise it would send out the wrong message if they could find an established Familigia who could help them create an outpost for the TSAB on Earth."

Colonello jumped onto her shoulder and patted her head.

"I hear you, kora. You've never heard the complaining like the ones I got from my superiors whenever I started experimenting with anti-aircraft weaponry. Too much overkill my ass, kora!"

"You two mesh far too well for anyone's sanity," said Yuuno dryly.

"Shishishi... I heard the White Devil had fun," said a voice from the doorway.

"Belphegor! How many times have I told you to stop calling that? It's bad enough those stupid fakes called me the..." said Nanoha, before she realized something.

"What?" said Fate.

"Exactly how many people would be aware of that stupid nickname enough to call me that? I don't really see anyone from the Arthra using it when talking about what we did during the Jewel Seed incident and it's more of a private nickname. So where did those fakes hear it?"

"Shishishi... sounds like you had a lead on the fakes that you didn't consider," said Belphegor. "Mammon is visiting the bakery, by the way."

"What about Xanxus-papa?"

"He's coming once he finishes his current mission. There was a report on something he didn't like the sound of, so he went to investigate it personally, with extreme prejudice if it wasn't rumors."

Xanxus had caught wind of the Esterneo Familigia, or what was left of it, using _children_ as experiments. Considering he was rather fond of 'brats' to a point (partly due to training Tsuna and adopting Alicia), he had taken the mission purely to make sure that wasn't the case. If it was...well, no one would particularly miss that familigia since they had been more or less ostracized for a long time after they did something rather stupid.

Odds were that he'd dump any kids he found that could be helped on Tsuna though. Especially if they were Flame active.

"So, we need to have a list of people who heard the name 'White Devil', even if it was in passing and know it was attached specifically to Nanoha-nee," said Alicia.

"I'll ask Lindy if she knows anyone who might have heard that nickname."

"I heard she offered to adopt you," said Alicia.

Fate nodded slowly. She was still unsure how to take the offer.

"Shishishi... Do you really think the Boss will care if you choose to be adopted by that woman instead of him? You're still one of Tsuna's Elements, and you're Alicia's sister."

"Family sticks together, even if we're not always in agreement about things," nodded Alicia.

It was one of the many reasons she loved her father. It was something he taught her that she absolutely agreed with, especially since now she had such a big family to call her own.

It also didn't hurt that Xanxus told her she was free to shoot anyone who was Stupid enough to make snide comments about the fact she was adopted within hearing. By this point it was well known she wasn't his biological daughter, but neither of them really cared about trivial things like that.

And she had a mean right hook, thanks to Fon.

Fate still looked unsure, but Tsuna had said the same thing during lunch after Nanoha mentioned it. That she would always be family even if she was adopted by Lindy.

* * *

It had been a quiet few weeks, though there was some excitement because the fakes made a couple of appearances and tried to steal the linker core of Fate and Alicia.

Too bad both had already shared their magic with Tsuna months ago. The book couldn't absorb someone twice.

And the fakes were smart enough not to try the same trick of pretending to be the Wolkenritter a second time.

They were, however, unusually interested in Hayate. Tsuna knew she had a large linker core, and they hoped to find a way to get her to access it soon. But none of them could figure out why the fakes were interested in her.

The biggest excitement they got was mostly due to Xanxus.

He came to the Takamachi house with a trio of "brats" and a very furious look on his face.

"What happened?" said Tsuna. He could feel Xanxus' tightly controlled rage from halfway down the street.

Normally Xanxus didn't discuss mafia-related business. Partly because of Tsuna's age but also because he was living a mostly civilian lifestyle.

However this time he made an exception and made sure that Fate and the others were there to hear it.

"I took a contract to investigate a base of the Esterneo family that was rumored to be doing human experimentation on their own blood. Most of the trash I saw there was either too far gone or were in deep. And then I get to the lower levels and find these three (behind him were a trio of children, with the oldest having a rather unique hair style and two different eye colors, one of which had a kanji in the right eye) in a room full of bodies...most of which were children," said Xanxus accepting the booze from Nanoha. He looked like he really needed it. He knocked it back in one shot, before glaring at the one with the pineapple hair style. "This little fucker tried to possess me until I kicked his sorry ass halfway across the room, which made these two little bastards try to tag team me. And I know you're lacking a decent Mist..."

"Kufufufufu..."

Nanoha gave him a flat look, which cause the pineapple one to blink and the other two to stare.

Tsuna, however, sighed.

" _What are your names?"_ he asked in Italian.

The pineapple, who was a Mist apparently, let off another one of his weird laughs before replying.

" _I am Mukuro Rokudo,"_ he replied. The other two didn't need any prompting, but it was clear they weren't happy with how easily Xanxus beat them.

" _Joushima Ken,"_ said the one with the fangs. He had a wild feel to him, almost like Aruf or Zafira.

" _Kakimoto Chikusa,"_ replied the quiet one with the bar code on his face.

Tsuna held out his hand, since it was unlikely they knew enough about Japanese culture to understand any bowing done.

" _Takamachi Tsuna. This is my older sister Nanoha,"_ said Tsuna pointing at the red head. He eyed them, especially since Mukuro warily accepted his hand shake.

There was a sort of damaged feel to him, most likely from the experiments the adults put them through. Tsuna made a note to have Vita and Zafira have a long talk with them.

He vaguely recalled that Signum said something about some of their past masters experimenting on them extensively because of how they were formed...which meant if anyone could help them start the healing process it was them. Or possibly Fate, but he'd rather not dredge up any repressed memories.

Xanxus looked dead on his feet, and he was not in a good mood.

"Come on Xanxus-papa, you can sleep in the guest house for a bit," said Alicia cheerfully, leading him back to one of the rooms.

Mukuro and the others looked at Tsuna and the others oddly.

" _Do you have any preferences to food? Kaa-san might be willing to pick some up for supper tonight, and you can take over one of the extra rooms in the guest house in the back. I'm sure we could put three of the futons together so you can share the same room."_

"Kufufufu... _I don't have any particular preference."_

Ken looked wary, but he did say he liked chocolate. Chikusa stayed silent, but vaguely offered that he liked pasta.

They seemed to warm up a bit to the group when Tsuna calmly pulled out a chocolate cake with strawberries and started working on some spaghetti for lunch. Good thing it was a Sunday.

It wasn't until the Wolkenritter came in bearing groceries (Tsuna had sent them a heads up via telepathy) that the trio dropped their suspicious edge around them.

Signum took one look at Mukuro, Ken and Chikusa and said in Italian _"I know those eyes."_

Mukuro tightened his grip on his trident and Tsuna could feel the Flames licking the borders of his senses.

By this point Fate, Nanoha and Alicia were all in the living room doing homework. Far enough to let Tsuna's Sky influence do it's work, but close enough to intervene if necessary. Yuuno was steadily working his way through some things Mammon had shared with him. He had a dictionary next to him as he tried to muddle through Italian with help from Nanoha.

Zafira turned into his wolf form, startling the boys but perking Ken's open interest.

It didn't take much for Ken to start making a series of strange growls and yips, only for Zafira to respond in the same language.

He seemed really pleased with that, causing the other two to relax slightly.

Vita sat at the table and gave them all one of her signature scowls.

" _How long?"_ she asked in Italian. Thanks in part to Reinforce absorbing Xanxus, Belphegor and Mammon, they could all speak it. And it was only refined by being in Italy for several months.

Picking up languages was easy for them.

" _How long what?"_ demanded Mukuro tightly.

" _How long were you experimented on?"_ she clarified. Seeing the shocked look of Chikusa and Mukuro, and the stiffening of Ken, she knew she had hit the mark.

" _Too long for my liking,"_ said Mukuro tightly.

" _I know the feeling. The fear of knowing that they're coming and there's nothing you can do to stop them. Wondering when you or one of your friends is going to be next on that damn table, to feel the sting of drugs or the bite of the knives and needles. Crying yourself to sleep every night wondering why, and praying it would end soon,"_ said Vita, her eyes drenched in old memories.

There were times she hated the whole memory wipe thing that came from being absorbed and re-summoned. But there were times, the ones where they could only pray that their current master was taken out even though they hated themselves for wishing their liege dead in the first place, because that wasn't the sort of thing a Knight should ever pray for...those were the days Vita and the others were beyond glad that they lost memories over the centuries.

There were nightmares, but Nanoha and the others didn't mind letting them share the bed.

Mukuro stared at her, at Signum and Shamal and an invisible tension in his shoulders relaxed. His grip on his trident loosened a fraction and his Mist flames went back to lazily coiling in his body.

The other two took that queue from him to relax as well, and Ken went back to 'chatting' with Zafira. He was definitely amused when Aruf came in as well in her puppy form.

There was also an amusing moment when Yuuno, wanting to give his poor eyes a rest, turned into a ferret to join in on the discussion.

By the time the trio ate the food Tsuna prepared for them...and Xanxus woke up enough to scarf down a plate before going right back to sleep...they slowly began to realize that maybe here, they were safe.

That maybe they could be free and actually have it mean something.


	9. Chapter 9

Fate was walking back from school with Mukuro, since Nanoha was going to be working with Skull for a while, when they saw something that made both of their blood boil. Mist and Lightning shared a look before coming to silent consensus.

There in the street was a girl about their age who could have passed for Mukuro's sister with all the same hallmarks of abuse that Fate still held herself, even if they were slowly starting to heal, about to be hit by a car trying to save a kitten.

Fate and Mukuro bolted and managed to grab girl and kitten, and yank them behind the barrier before they were hit by the car that ran a red light.

"Are you alright?" asked Fate.

The girl, still in shock, nodded slowly. The kitten mewled in protest.

Fate made a split second decision.

"Come on. You look like you could use something to drink and possibly a snack to calm down after that near hit," she suggested.

The girl tried to protest, but it fell on deaf ears. It didn't help when her stomach growled rather loudly, or that she flinched when Mukuro gently helped her up.

She soon found herself sitting at a table with Mukuro, Fate, and Alicia. Chikusa was helping knead dough in the back while Ken was out playing soccer with one of the local teams Shiro managed. The second the man found out how much energy the boy had, he was quick to sign Ken up and teach him how to play. Ken seemed to enjoy it well enough, running around kicking the ball.

"What's your name?" asked Alicia innocently.

"Um... Nagi. I should really be going," she said timidly. However her stomach betrayed her, growling loudly.

Fate looked closer at Nagi and frowned openly.

"Are you alright? Your eye looks like it's having trouble focusing," said Fate.

Nagi flinched. She managed a brave smile when Momoka showed up and left a few snacks and some warm chamomile tea for them to drink... though Mukuro got an iced coffee. He was only allowed a small one, since he was still young.

Fate looked Nagi dead in the eye before asking gently "Is it your mother or father?"

Nagi looked at her, eyes wide in shock.

"What?"

Fate repeated the question.

Nagi flinched.

"You think it's the same as kaa-san?" asked Alicia.

"It's similar, but I don't think which ever one is abusing her has the excuse of being mentally ill," said Fate darkly.

Nagi stared at Fate with wide eyes...and a little bit of hope.

"You... you're like me?" she asked timidly.

Fate nodded sadly.

"My mother was ill for a very long time because my sister was in a coma for years. She tried to turn me into a replacement for her, except I couldn't be Alicia, so she took it out on me. I got lucky because I found friends who accepted me for who I am and saved me from that life," said Fate quietly.

Nagi looked ready to cry, though whether it was from relief or pain it was hard to tell.

"My mother hates me and my step-father doesn't want me..." she said, trying not to cry.

Fate hugged her, letting Nagi cry into her shoulder. Mukuro didn't look happy, though whether it was because it was pretty clear Nagi would be joining them or because the girl's parents were obviously abusive was debatable. Talking with the Wolkenritter, especially Signum was helping, but he still had trust issues.

Alicia sighed.

"Why is it that we're always the ones to find the ones who really need help the most that the adults ignore? It's starting to become a really weird and horrifying pattern."

"Either way you're not going back to that house," said Fate firmly. She could feel the relief in Nagi's shoulders.

"Want me to ask Xanxus-papa if he'd be willing to take her in?"

"I'll asked Lindy-san if he doesn't," said Fate.

Alicia was already asking Xanxus via telepathy if he could look into Nagi's home life and not so discreetly encourage the mother and step-father to leave Nagi alone. If not, well she was sure he would be happy to arrange an 'accident'.

It said a lot about his influence on her that she didn't think twice about asking for an 'accident' to befall those who genuinely deserved it. Then again, certain morals were the first thing to go when your adopted father was the head of the Varia.

"Fate, I really don't think we can just take in someone like that," said Chrono with a sigh.

Fate looked him dead in the eye and with a stubborn expression.

"And you evidently didn't understand what I said. This girl is being abused and neglected by her mother and step father to the point she's literally skin and bones and has no confidence. I will not let someone return to a situation I was barely rescued from," said Fate dead serious.

Lindy, after having a little chat with Nagi, had an expression that Chrono recognized from their 'talk' about adding Fate to the family.

"I hope you know we can't interfere if her mother demands we return her," said Lindy.

"Alicia has that covered. She asked Xanxus-san to look into Nagi's home life and convince the woman and her husband to either ignore the fact that she's no longer in their care or to give them a warning. Since we have no legal jurisdiction on Earth, it's easier to let him handle that side of things," said Fate without hesitation.

Chrono and Lindy winced. It was pretty obvious that if the 'parents' didn't take a hint, then Xanxus might very well arrange an accident or other disaster to occur and rendering the entire thing moot. By which point Nagi would still need a home, which left the question of who would take her in.

The Takamachi were more or less full at this point, especially after Xanxus dumped the trio of boys he had rescued from a very unpleasant situation on Tsuna.

And Nagi had definitely bonded with Fate once she found out that the other girl had gone through something almost identical to what she was enduring, especially when she instinctively realized that Tsuna's family would happily defend her from her abusers.

Tsuna had taken one look at her, before hugging her tightly and welcoming her to the group without a single hesitation. He looked particularly happy that Mukuro had helped Fate save her from being hit by a car.

"I suppose she could stay here until we figure out how to deal with her situation. Which school do you go to?" sighed Lindy.

Nagi almost winced, but she took strength from the gentle hand on her arm from Fate.

"Um... I'm home schooled."

Lindy made sure to telegraph her movements for Nagi's sake. She had to do the same thing for Fate already, but the blond was slowly overcoming the urge to flinch when she felt a touch on her head. She patted the girl's head, and Nagi managed not to react too badly.

"Well until we figure out which one of the adults will become your new guardian, you're welcome to stay here. I'm sure once we get thing settled down properly you can join Fate and the others in her class," said Lindy gently. "Until then, why don't you share Fate's room?"

Nagi brightened up at that. She didn't exactly have many friends, and she was quickly starting to gain many of them, all of whom were connected in some way to the nice boy with the warm eyes.

Lindy was very relieved when, less than a week later Nagi's "mother" (and she was loathe to even give that woman any such title considering the scarring on the poor girl...she was blind in her right eye) gave up custody rights without much "convincing" from Xanxus. She seemed far too pleased to be rid of poor Nagi.

The girl was very happy to learn she would soon be gaining a new brother and sister, even if Chrono was openly reluctant with the way things were handled.

But Lindy had to admit, Alicia had a very strong point when she said that Tsuna and his family had a very unusual habit of attracting the 'damaged' people to them. First Xanxus, then the Wolkenritter, then Fate and the trio Xanxus had rescued, leading all the way straight to Nagi who was integrated rather easily into their group.

Lindy was worried with how quickly Tsuna seemed to be gathering people with Flames, but Xanxus was anything but. If anything he was rather pleased, if somewhat annoyed by how the majority of the damaged ones were children.

Apparently the stronger the Sky, the more they tended to draw in Elements. It was a sign of a well-balanced Sky if they could collect all of the other six elements, particularly Clouds considering how hard they were to find.

That they were able to coexist so easily without any in-fighting was a miracle in itself. Especially Clouds, considering how often they disliked being part of a group.

* * *

It was during one of their fights with the fakes that something happened.

The two masked assailants tried to steal Tsuna's core, mostly because they made a point of keeping it from looking like he was the new Master. Considering he could fly with his Flames, and didn't fight with a Device, it was fairly easy to pull off.

The second one of them managed to reach in and grab his linker core, Tsuna felt his Flames react. Violently.

The fake screamed in pain as orange fire burned them, looking very much like Xanxus' Flames of Wrath.

The second one appeared, and grabbed the first. You could feel that they were rather pissed about their friend being attacked. Both of them teleported out, but now they had a solid lead on who to look for.

Flame Rejection burns, especially those mixed with Wrath Flames, were so distinctive it was unlikely the assailants would be able to hide for very long.

"Tsuna!" yelped Nanoha.

Tsuna looked exhausted, and blacked out immediately. Even if his core was unharmed, the way his Flames reacted wore him out.

He remained out cold for two full days before waking up.

Lindy looked rather angry about something, but not at him.

"Admiral Graham and his familiars have been arrested. They've been forcibly made to retire, mostly to avoid the scandal," said Lindy.

"How?" asked Tsuna tiredly.

"The burn scars on his familiar were too distinctive to hide, and when coupled with the fact that he was one of the very few who heard the little nickname the Prince gave Nanoha along with the picture we have of her, it was easy to tie the series of assaults on him. The fact that Crowbel was able to bring up the file declaring the Book of Darkness case closed along with the notation that the Wolkenritter have been on probation for almost a year did not help his case. It really didn't help that he was known for being obsessed with the Book after witnessing the aftermath of the last time it was active and went berserk," said Lindy.

"Are the Wolkenritter in trouble?"

"Aside from the fact the TSAB would like to have a limiter placed on you soon after you complete the book to limit the damage you could accidentally cause, no. They more or less stayed out of the main fight and all the people who had their cores absorbed while you were the acting Master were all volunteers."

Tsuna's eyes went wide at the word "limiter". Lindy quickly realized her mistake.

"It's not a permanent seal, and Reinforce can lift it if the situation is dire enough. At most it restricts your ability to use spells like Mistletien to roughly an AA ranking, since it's capable of S ranked or higher damage. Which means you wouldn't be able to cast spells above, say what Nanoha could do if she augmented her Starlight Breaker at full blast in Excellion mode with her Cloud Flames."

Tsuna's heart rate went down considerably at that. If that was really all the limiter did, then he could agree to having one placed so he didn't hurt a lot of people trying to use his spells.

"What about my Flames?"

"Considering we've never encountered them before now, it's unlikely they'd know how to do anything with them in the first place. And since they're a manifestation of your soul... having anything that would affect them at all would be illegal and immoral besides," she replied.

"Where are Fate and the others?"

"I'm sure they'll head straight here once class is over. They were all worried about you, even the trio Xanxus brought with him."

Of course Lindy didn't mention the...incident... that happened at the Midoriyama that had Xanxus in a right rage.

They had no idea _how_ Iemitsu finally managed to track down the Takamachi family, but Nanoha was very glad Tsuna was out cold and thus had no idea the man had been in town.

The moment the situation was explained about why Xanxus had reacted to the man's presence in the cafe by grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt and bodily throwing him out into traffic (it was light enough that the most Iemitsu got was a few bruises, unfortunately) and looking ready to start shooting, the rest of Tsuna's Elements were more than happy to give the bastard the boot the next time he dared show up.

Tsuna was traumatized enough just by hearing the man's name or at the very thought of being in the same city as him. They didn't want to see how badly he'd react to being within eyesight of him.

And to be honest, Iemitsu had lost his rights to be around his son _years_ ago.

"Any idea why they were so interested in Hayate?" asked Tsuna worriedly.

Lindy took a calming breath. Having adopted two abused little girls meant she had to have a better hold on her temper, at least around children. But after seeing how easily the two flourished under her care, she didn't regret it for a minute.

"According to Admiral Graham, Hayate Yagami was supposed to be the next owner of the book...except it somehow ended up going missing before he could give it to her and your mother found it. Which is why he had his familiars pretending to be the Wolkenritter, hoping to draw the real ones out. He just didn't expect to have the ruse busted so early or for those who were allied with the real ones to be strong enough to hold off any attacks long enough to record the fact there were more than there should be," said Lindy.

Tsuna looked as angry as she felt.

"You mean he was deliberately trying to ruin their probation? Why?"

"He thought he could seal away the Book, even if it meant that the owner would have to be sealed along with it. He planned to help finish it, so he could seal the book along with the owner right before it went completely berserk and became unmanageable. Needless to say Xanxus damn near killed him when he heard the plan. Graham looked like he had been slapped with a fish when he found out that someone from Earth managed to remove what was causing the actual problem in the first place without harming either Device or the owner."

Graham was very much on Xanxus' shit list, to the point if he tried anything like that again he was going to end up on the wrong side of some very overprotective assassins who wouldn't hesitate to take him and his familiars out. It went without saying that five minutes with the very angry Wrath left an...impression... on the man.


	10. Chapter 10

Suzuka and Alisa took the news about magic fairly well, considering they had confronted Nanoha and Tsuna about feeling excluded from the quickly expanding group. Nagi's quick acceptance had been the final straw for them.

They took the news that Tsuna was related to the Italian mafia...oddly.

"So that's why that weird blond boy keeps giving me such a bad feeling!" said Alisa, pointing at Nanoha with annoyance.

"I'll concede Belphegor can be a bit...off... but he's perfectly reasonable if you know how to handle him," said Nanoha.

"Bullshit. You scare the hell out of him when you give him that look Nanoha-nee," said Tsuna flatly. "He's the one who started that nickname you hate so much, long before Vita found out about it and started making it worse."

"Nickname?" said Suzuka.

Tsuna grinned, and Nanoha glared at him.

"Belphegor took one look at Nanoha in her school uniform giving her one of those glares of hers after she slapped him for trying to steal one too many pieces of cake and started calling her the White Devil. And then Vita started calling her that too after Nanoha got a little... overzealous during a training session, only to find out Bel beat her to the name first. She's the only one other than Mammon-nee, Xanxus-nii or me who can put the Ripper Prince in line," said Tsuna grinning.

"Ripper... Prince?" repeated Alisa twitching.

"It's his code name," said Nanoha sighing.

Alisa twitched.

"And you let him stay at your house?"

Tsuna shrugged, before looking slightly depressed about something.

"You can choose your friends, but you can't choose family. Much as I would like to."

"Xanxus sent that idiot packing the second he showed up. He's never going to get near you again," said Nanoha rubbing Tsuna's back.

"Does this have anything to with the 'accident' near the Midoriyama Cafe?" said Suzuka.

"Iemitsu finally tracked Tsuna down while he was feeling sick. Fortunately Tsuna was recovering at Fate's house when he showed up. Xanxus-nii was furious he was there, and threw him into live traffic," said Nanoha. It was clear she wished he had done more than bodily toss him out of the shop.

The cops had been pretty shocked seeing someone like Xanxus there, never mind the fact her father brought out the restraining order on Iemitsu to prove the man knew damn well he wasn't allowed near Tsuna or his frequent areas.

"On an unrelated note, one of Xanxus-nii's brothers is going to take over that group, so odds are Iemitsu is going to find himself kicked out or iced eventually," said Nanoha with false cheer.

"Is it a bad thing I'm really, really praying it's the second option that happens?" asked Tsuna.

He could care less if Iemitsu was frozen via the Zero Point Breakthrough or 'iced' in the traditional sense with a bullet. He just wanted that man gone permanently from his life with zero chance of haunting his nightmares again.

"I've been meaning to ask...who are those toddlers that we keep seeing around the cafe and town?" asked Suzuka, trying to change the subject.

It made them unhappy seeing Tsuna so depressed. Like kicking a kitten when it was down.

Nanoha grinned at Tsuna.

"They're the Arcobaleno, the seven strongest 'babies' alive. There are actually eight of them, but only a few are going to show up at the moment."

Seeing their eyebrows shoot up, Tsuna cheerfully explained about how they were cursed to look like toddlers, but at the same time could send a grown man or an entire yakuza clan flying if they were so inclined...before poking fun at Nanoha because she had bonded with the one who liked to blow things up with an anti-tank rifle and was showing her the finer points of sniping.

She had learned quickly enough under Skull...who was openly reluctant to leave Uminari even if it meant putting up with Fon and Colonello.

At least it wasn't Reborn. He didn't think he could stand being kicked around by that jerk.

It was unlikely that their two friends would ever become part of the mafia...but there was some leeway for them because Tsuna technically wasn't bound by Omerta because he had yet to become known to the Vongola family as a whole.

Not even the Varia knew he was a potential Vongola heir. All they knew was that he was a Sky brat who was being trained by Xanxus personally under orders of his grandmother. Outside of the officers, Tsuna hadn't really interacted with the rest.

So long as he claimed he was using magic and kept the truth about Flames secret from the general public, he could live a more or less normal life. Though he was also painfully aware he could be 'tapped' to take over as Decimo at any time because he had active Sky Flames and had the bloodline.

* * *

Tsuna was twitching, for multiple reasons.

Namely he had just been informed that the home he shared with his mother had been 'moved' to another location and an underground base added to the basement area. One with multiple exits.

The main question he had was... Why?

Xanxus sighed. He really didn't like breaking this news to the kid, but at least the brat would have _some_ forewarning instead of having Reborn dumped into his lap as a trainer.

Not that he couldn't handle it... he took "Varia-level" crazy with ease after so long...but Reborn was a total sadist who lived to make his student's lives "interesting" in the worst ways.

"Alright, explain to me why I shouldn't be breaking out Raging Heart and getting ready to set some explosives off," said Nanoha twitching.

Colonello was absolutely a bad influence on her, even if she found the life of a mercenary far more "fun" than joining the TSAB full time. She was still going to be labeled as a "Civilian Consult/Trainer", but she found blowing up things a lot of fun.

Xanxus winced.

"You already know Massimo went into CEDEF and is in line to kick 'him' out the first chance he has. He was appalled when he found out the only reason the entire group didn't collapse already was because of Lal Mirch..." seeing the look Nanoha was giving him, Xanxus got to the point. "Long story short, Federico made it clear there was no way he could possibly hold the Decimo position _and_ keep the family from imploding. He's having enough trouble getting Guardians."

Nanoha could already see where this was going.

"He's going to act as placeholder until Tsuna is old enough to be considered for the post, since he already has several, is trained in Sky Flames and is used to crazy to the point he could stare down adults and tell them no, they're not allowed to do something because it's wrong."

Xanxus nodded.

"Actually the only reason we're waiting to alert our allies to the fact Federico is mostly acting as decoy is because Reborn is currently training the Cavallone brat and it unlikely to complete that assignment for several years. So around the time you're fifteen at least. He has to also rebuild the famiglia since the last head was an idiot when it came to finances."

Nanoha sighed.

"And because Namimori is more used to chaos compared to Uminari, Tsuna will have to attend school there eventually."

"Considering how big the brat's group is, it's easier to just move the house and add a sublevel so they can all stay in one place. And it means he can attract more Guardians, since he hasn't really filled _all_ the spots. This is before you take into account that the town is technically Vongola-regulated neutral territory..."

"So it would be safer to have me trained in 'Vongola' territory where we can at least defend ourselves and have quick reinforcement...and possibly an entire Flame-run hospital considering the place is known for attracting unaffiliated Flames..."

"Most of the cops are already paid off, so as long as you come up with a plausible lie that passes some inspection, you can get away with a lot of shit," said Xanxus.

Tsuna suddenly groaned, seeing the gleam in Nanoha's eyes.

"Really?" she said, eyes sparkling.

"They have a thriving black market and if you can keep your grades up we'll give you a credit card with a decent limit so you can afford any toys you'd like to play with," said Xanxus.

"We are going to Namimori once we're out of grade school," said Nanoha seriously.

Tsuna groaned.

He would have wished for a 'peaceful' life, but to be honest he was used to crazy at this point. At least he could keep his family under 'reasonable' control by employing his disappointed look.

Xanxus smirked at him.

"Pitfalls of being the Sky Guardian. You have to keep everyone else's crazy to a reasonable level and deal with the whining."

Tsuna looked Nanoha flat in the eye.

"I am not doing anyone's paperwork. I swear to the Kaiser if I find out I have to sign anything in triplicate because you went overboard with Hayato I will make you suffer in ways only Mukuro thought he could come up with."

She pouted.

"You're no fun."

"No, I just want to avoid carpel tunnel syndrome before I'm thirty," said Tsuna flatly. Xanxus let out a bark of laughter.

"That's why I shove all that shit on Squalo!" he said with approval.

Tsuna had a dark grin.

"I think I'll delegate Fate into my secretary, Hayate in charge of wardrobe, Colonello in charge of the armory, Hayato in charge of any underlings I acquire with Mukuro handling the punishment if people make me do too much paperwork..." said Tsuna, already making a list.

He was not above abusing his Sky position to delegate all the headaches evenly so he didn't have to do _all_ the paperwork...or finding someone he wouldn't feel guilty about shoving it all on so long as they could give him the facts without embellishing it.

He saw the workload Squalo did on a weekly basis. He would not fall into that hell if he had any damn say in it!

"By the way, how the hell did you get the Prince brat to piss in fear of using you as a threat?" asked Xanxus to Nanoha.

Nanoha had an...angelic smile. It didn't fool them for a minute.

"I told him I had a decent amount of C4, a knowledge of how to use Cloud Flames and that I was fully prepared to use my Starlight Breaker on him...and this was before I started having my period."

Xanxus and Tsuna stared. Then the older Flame started laughing his ass off.

"Can I borrow her for my Cloud officer?" he practically begged.

"Ask me again if and when I find someone as terrifying as Nanoha-nee in creating discipline," said Tsuna flippantly.

"Damn. What are the odds of that happening?"

 _In Namimori..._

Kyouya Hibari sneezed three times. He would make whoever caused him to spill his dinner all over the floor to pay, and pay dearly.

* * *

 _Three months later..._

Tsuna took one look at Nanoha, and made a decision as her Sky.

"Fate, Chrome (Nagi), grab her."

"Hey, what..."

Tsuna had the two sisters (Alicia was more than happy to welcome the newly named "Chrome Dokuro" as her other little sister) frog march Nanoha into the infirmary where Shamal and Yuuno were.

"What's this about?"

"Could one of you check her linker core please?" asked Tsuna.

Shamal used her rings...and her face went from confused to horrified.

"Nanoha, have you even taken a single break from training for a week?"

"Mu. I feel fine!"

"You are _not_ fine, young lady! Your Sun flames must be hiding the symptoms, but your linker core is on the verge of collapse. I'm putting you on restricted use, and you are not going to do anything more than basic control exercises like that can game of yours until I say otherwise! Yuuno, I want you to lock Raging Heart so she can't access it without the full aria," said Shamal sternly.

Yuuno looked a bit sheepish, mostly because of the betrayed look Nanoha was giving him, but he took Raging Heart to the other room.

Nanoha did not look happy. She felt fine!

"Nanoha... don't make me bring in Sorella to give you a long lecture of what overusing your Flames will do to you," said Tsuna.

She flinched. It was hard to dislike Sorella, regardless of how weird he was. And if Tsuna brought him in, then Xanxus-nii would come as well and give her an even worse lecture.

"If you try to go against Shamal's orders, I will personally have Alicia confiscate every piece of explosive and weaponry you've been learning with Colonello," threatened Tsuna.

"No! You wouldn't dare!" she said horrified.

"No more explosives or watching people pale in horror at the thought of a preteen girl threatening to shoot their balls off if they didn't take her as a credible threat," continued Tsuna nodding.

"You are a cruel person. What have I ever done to deserve that?" said Nanoha, eyes full of tears.

If this were anyone else, they might have caved. But this was Tsuna, the only person who could out do Nanoha in the "adorable" department, especially with teary eyes. Even Xanxus caved when he turned on the waterworks, even when he knew it was totally bullshit.

He could look into Nanoha's eyes...and feel absolutely nothing, other than wanting to give her advice on how to tug at people's heart strings better, because her acting needed work.

Nanoha would only realize Tsuna had been right after a week, when she realized that the constant exhaustion she had been feeling for over a month was easier to live with. She didn't feel like sleeping through classes as much, and she had more pep in her step.

Still didn't get her out of four months of restricted magical training, but at least Tsuna didn't say "I told you so!" to her face.


	11. Chapter 11

_Time skip... Tsuna, age fourteen..._

Tsuna wasn't proud of it, but if he could he would have accepted his training in Uminari. Namimori had way too many memories for him to like.

At least the scenery was _mostly_ different. The Vongola had gone out of their way to keep the original shape of the house...mostly... but had repainted and adjusted a few things here and there like making it bigger and adding to the yard.

It still felt like the home he shared with his mother, but now it was much bigger and he was a changed person from that child who had no one save the Takamachi family to hold his hand and tell him everything would be alright.

On the other hand...

"So this is Namimori... it feels...peaceful," said Fate.

"Is Yuuno doing alright in Italy?" asked Tsuna.

"He's fine. In between his part time job in the Infinity Library, he's enjoying the archaeology work the Vongola has been sending his way. Especially since the Varia keep the worst of the headaches away."

Like robbers, idiot politicians who wanted to do something to the site without caring about lost history, Stupid People in general... as headache inducing as the Varia could be at some times, Yuuno was honestly glad to have them around watching his back. It made doing his job so much easier, since only a suicidal moron would try something when they're the ones guarding the place until the information was retrieved.

He had already found a connection with Earth Flames and Sky Flames that traced back to the Vongola family.

The site he was at now was rumored to have a connection to the Arcobaleno. Needless to say, they were pretty eager to see if that was true.

Tsuna looked across town...and felt only nostalgia. It was almost the same, but he wasn't the same person who lived here.

And he wouldn't change a second of the craziness that had followed. Especially since after Verde finally found out about Reinforce and the Wolkenritter, he agreed to donate his Flames in exchange for examining them both under the supervision of Fon.

Not being able to use his Lightning for a week or so in addition to giving Fate and Alicia ideas on how to use their own was a small price to pay for such fascinating research subjects, even if he had to deal with an overprotective Sky and his Guardians monitoring what the experiments were about.

Tsuna had to sacrifice a Unison device that Signum had found (she kept the only 'active' one which she named Agito) just to get him to drop the subject in favor of seeing if he could replicate the research.

Xanxus had already proven himself capable of making Devices, even without having to go through the TSAB to get the parts. Once he had an idea of how things worked and was able to get the right parts, he had successfully created Flame-based devices which had become the standard weapon of Tsuna's Elements. The ones who didn't have linker cores, like Chrome and Hayato.

Needless to say Colonello was beyond pleased having a new toy to cause mass collateral damage with...

Seriously, Tsuna would wish that the Rain Arcobelano and his sister would get a new damn hobby that _wouldn't_ lead to ungodly amounts of paperwork.

Even if it was hilarious to see Lal Mirch stare at a grinning Nanoha and Colonello before whimpering while saying "Dear god, there's _two_ of them now..." in Italian.

Though not as hilarious as the look on Nanoha's face when Belphegor stalked up to Fate and had a very...amusing discussion involving who would get the red head as their girlfriend.

Their agreement boiled down to the simple fact that since Fate was a girl, it was fine for them to share the explosive-loving mage, but he would gut any boy who dared tried to take his "White Devil" from him.

Momoka had found it adorable. Lindy...was mentally trying to remember who bet what on Nanoha's inevitable love life.

Fate had sighed upon realizing that she was going to be stuck as the "sane" member of their bizarre trio, even if it meant having a "blond Nanoha sandwich" as Tsuna had called it while laughing his ass off at Nanoha's shocked expression.

Seriously, he was very happy to have some damn blackmail on his sister at this point.

"So..."

"We're going to be split up among the classes. There's no way Namimori could have prepared for a fifteen-year-old Sky and a large compliment of Guardians. It's just too bad that Alisa and Suzuka couldn't join us too," said Nanoha pouting.

"I'm just glad Hayate is," said Tsuna, shuddering. That fan girl club that started up right around the time puberty hit the girls like a brick was not fun, and neither was being right next to Hayate who kept giving them these awful glares.

Everyone _knew_ she had claimed Tsuna as her boyfriend, but it didn't stop the horde. Nanoha had it almost as bad, except the boys knew she had an overseas boyfriend who was downright terrifying and that Fate was her girlfriend on the side.

Needless to say the boys were rather envious of this "Bel-kun" for having two girlfriends who didn't mind sharing, though he still scared the shit out of everyone who wasn't used to the Varia-brand of insanity.

Speaking of...

"Who's in the mood for sushi tonight?" asked Tsuna. He vaguely recalled Belphegor talking about this good sushi restaurant run by a former hit man that he liked to frequent, and if he was right then it was the same one his mother Nana used to order from a lot because of the special teas they had.

Besides, it would give him a chance to visit the grave and leave flowers.

Tsuna didn't know whether to feel glad Iemitsu had been "iced" (not in the traditional sense, sadly) by Nono once he was given the blunt truth by his second son about how bad it had gotten.

At this point it would simply be easier to dissolve CEDEF and restart from scratch once a new Decimo was placed.

And that wasn't getting into the long-term damage Iemitsu had done to his bastard son Basil. Some people might find his archaic way of speaking amusing, but when Tsuna had set Nanoha on him they found it was much more tragic.

It also reaffirmed his desire to never allow Iemitsu to have _any_ say in his life.

Iemitsu had more or less brainwashed the poor kid, and there was some hope that long-term exposure to Tsuna's Sky Influence/magnet for crazy would help break him out of his pattern of self-abuse, even if he didn't realize it himself.

Still, Tsuna couldn't help but have a bad feeling about school once the paperwork went through. And he had the weirdest feeling that the worst of it would be centered around Mukuro for some reason.

* * *

Tsuna had the not so friendly introduction to the unofficial "top dog" of Namimori Middle School after Mukuro finally met the mysterious Hibari-san that the students kept warning him about.

The two had taken one look at each other... before they started setting off massive doses of killing intent that was rather impressive, considering the Varia wasn't in the area.

Though Tsuna was quick to pull out a camera and then send Nanoha in to diffuse the situation.

"Ara. You two aren't about to start a massive fight this close to the school, with so many witnesses are you?" said Nanoha, letting loose her own brand of terror on them.

There was a damn good reason why her nickname was White Devil, and it had nothing to do with her barrier jacket.

The other Cloud, because there was no way in hell that teen was anything less than a territorial Cloud with the way he was acting, turned to stare at her.

"This is my fight, carnivore. If you interfere I will bite you to death," he warned, leveling a tonfa at her.

Tsuna got a good look at his face, before he realized who this was.

"Oh, so _that_ explains it. I wish Fon would have warned us that you lived in Namimori as well. It would have saved a lot of trouble warning you that we were moving to the area," he said face-palming.

The boy went rigid with fury. Apparently his uncle was a sore subject for him, though he couldn't understand why. Fon was infinitely preferable to that man.

Tsuna decided to cut to the chase and hopefully earn some good points with Hibari Kyouya.

"If you agree to keep any...arguments...with Mukuro outside of any areas I would be legally required to pay for or deal with the cops, I'll let you borrow my sister for your disciplinary committee. She can instill pants-shitting fear with a mere look, and if that fails she starts scaring people with her hobby and her boyfriend."

And that was all before Fate got super territorial over her.

"Hn. Her hobby?"

"She's an explosive expert and our patrons have no issue letting her play with high ordinance like C-4...combined with her Flame type and she's a walking demolitions expert," said Tsuna bluntly. "And her boyfriend is a psychotic, territorial exiled prince who has no issues with stabbing people who try to infringe on what he thinks of as his."

He could tolerate boys talking to her or helping with homework... but the second it even looked like they were trying to infringe on his territory Belphegor got very stab happy.

Hence why Fate was always put in the same class as Nanoha. She had to insure it didn't get that bad, otherwise she was the one people would hold responsible.

Fortunately Tsuna wasn't above acting as her shield from the worst of it.

Kyouya eyed Nanoha dubiously.

"Clear the school of any lingering bullying problem. I have enough work keeping the worst of the delinquents in line, since new ones keep cropping up."

Nanoha's smirk was terrifying...if you weren't family and already used to it.

"With pleasure. Oh, Tsuna-nii..."

Tsuna winced.

"This is going to suck, but if they're stupid enough to fall for this then obviously they deserve everything they get if they think your bully-radar wouldn't pick them up."

There were almost no bullies in Uminari.

Because Nanoha had made her own territory to protect her family from such idiocy, and by the time she hit puberty she had a reputation for having...talks...with said idiots and "encouraging" them to change their ways or else.

The "or else" being that she would start breaking out some of bombs she liberated from Hayato since all of hers were too high quality to do anything more than turn said fools into paste.

It said something that they trusted Nanoha with the really high grade stuff, but Hayato was restricted to dynamite and the mid grade until he could get control of his temper.

Which wasn't likely to happen for a while, but at least he finally got permission to handle the mid-grade explosives as well as guns.

Within a week, there wasn't a single bully who dared step foot in Namimori Middle School.

The second the students recognized "Dame-Tsuna", because he let it slip he used to live there and fell into some old patterns of behavior for a little while, it was like opening the gates.

And the moment those gates were open, the protective dragon that was Nanoha came in like a hurricane. Between her scary aura (refined by the Varia and far too many 'dates' with Belphegor) and the fact she displayed a similar habit to the already well known Hibari Kyouya... well, Hibari was more than happy to dump his paperwork on her and let her deal with the personal problems of the school while he focused on keeping the peace outside.

After all, Nanoha was much more personable and even had a built-in barrier against the more pushy idiots by way of Fate.

Tsuna was just glad he avoided a needless fight with the kendo captain over one of the girls in class. Sure, he was able to beat the boy up even after being given rigged gear...but having Hayate show up and kiss him on the cheek and declare that she was his girlfriend eased a lot of tension.

* * *

Tsuna took one look at the baseball star, immediately recognized him as the son of the sushi chef who had been friends with his mother, before sighing.

He knew exactly what he was looking at, if only because they had all developed a sixth sense for when someone was training too hard in order to keep Nanoha from going overboard.

Takeshi looked rather confused when Tsuna had his friends kidnap him. And it only got worse when he found himself parked in a doctor's office.

"Uh... why did you guys kidnap me?" he asked baffled.

Tsuna gave him a flat look.

"Because if that isn't a case of early-stage tennis elbow, then clearly I need my eyes checked," he said bluntly.

"Tennis elbow?" repeated Takeshi. He played baseball, not tennis.

"Same repetitive motions involved in tennis happen in baseball. And after my sister almost went overboard once with the training, we've learned to keep an eye out for others displaying similar signs. You were minutely flinching every time you swung the bat and your reaction time is off. It's pretty obvious you're in pain, but you've managed to tune it out to the point you don't realize the damage being done to your shoulder. If you keep this up you might end up with a really nasty sprain or worse, fail to hit the ball in time and get seriously injured."

Takeshi blinked... now that he mentioned it, his arm was rather tight and it hurt to grip the bat some days. He had been taking over the counter medicines like _Advil_ to deal with the muscle cramps. And he had noticed his hits getting slower.

"Ah, Takamachi-kun! Here for a check up?" asked the doctor.

"He needs to have his right arm checked. I think he's starting to develop tennis elbow from overuse," said Tsuna. He left the room, allowing Takeshi some privacy.

"You know Tsuna-san?" asked Takeshi.

"More like we were given a heads up his friends were moving into the area. His family is the main sponsor of this hospital," clarified the doctor. "Now, let's check your arm."

Takeshi would learn to respect Takamachi Tsuna for recognizing it. He honestly had no idea how close he came to completely paralyzing his arm by over training like he had.

His father, once he heard who had "kidnapped" and forcibly made Takeshi see a doctor about his arm, was torn between laughing his ass off and open fondness.

Apparently his dad was good friends with Tsuna's birth mother... and the family who adopted him after her tragic death.

Well, if they were that quick to help someone they didn't really know because they could care less about how someone would take an intervention, then maybe they were the right sort of friends to have?

Takeshi was very miffed none of his "friends" and baseball teammates had noticed he was in pain and that he was too stubborn to realize it. Even if it meant he had to miss a game or two for his arm to heal properly.

He was barely allowed to use it for writing, and zero strenuous activity.

"EXTREME!"

Takeshi snorted. Somehow he had the feeling Sasegawa Ryohei was next on the list of "interventions by Takamachi".


	12. Chapter 12

Reborn had been given the assignment to train Tsunayoshi Takamachi.

By this time Iemitsu's failures as a father was well known, especially when it got out that his "legitimate" son couldn't stand to be in the same city as him without suffering some form of mental breakdown.

Being told he wasn't allowed to exploit such an obvious weakness until the boy either broke it or became a gibbering wreck was annoying.

Except he had been shown videos of what the boy's current Cloud Guardian would do to him on her own if he did and she found out. And then given other examples of what his family would do to him with great pleasure and no small amount of overkill if he managed to escape her punishment.

He would never allow himself to be hit by a wide-scale bombardment attack...which for some bizarre reason was collectively known among the Varia as the "Cloud-enhanced pink befriending beam from hell".

So no mental trauma via Iemitsu's stupidity on the brat. But he was free to inflict other chaos on the boy for the fun of it.

The boy had been trained by Xanxus, and was well used to the Varia and a lot of crazy. Odds were he'd survive some of Reborn's worst.

Though Xanxus had openly asked if he could borrow the boy's sister to act as the Varia Cloud officer once she graduated high school. The "White Devil" had terrified the entire Cloud Division with one attack and that was before she brought out her staff.

Then again it was only natural to be terrified of a girl who openly lobbed high level explosives at you and had a damn near unlimited amount of them thanks to Cloud flames while cackling.

And yes, even the Varia admitted she spent far too much time with her boyfriend who happened to be the insane "prince" of the Storm division and the explosive nut known as Colonello.

However the second he saw the kid he was supposed to train, Reborn lost his composure and his jaw dropped.

It was the kid who caused so much havoc by going around that party looking like a younger Xanxus, complete with his own aura that made the mafioso want to run as far away as possible from it!

CLICK

Reborn turned to see...Fon and Colonello with cameras?

"I am so glad he developed that blackmail sense around Viper..." cackled Colonello.

"Agreed," grinned Fon evilly.

Reborn glared at them both.

"How much you want to bet he's going to be unhappy learning his brand of chaos isn't going to cut it here?" said Colonello once Reborn went inside to introduce himself.

"I have the cameras already recording to the tablet Verde helpfully gave me. I can't wait to watch him crack, and I know Verde's never going to let him hear the end of it," snickered Fon. Screw composure, being around Tsuna was too much fun not to enjoy the chaos of a big family.

Colonello saw Reborn notice Skull, and grinned even wider. To make it worse, Alicia was about to enter the room.

She had a weakness for the Arcobaleno, and even Mammon had given up trying to make her "pay" for the girl's habit of running up and hugging them.

Skull quickly grew to love it and they mostly tolerated it because she didn't mean anything by it.

Colonello and Fon were quick to aim their cameras and start snapping like crazy the second Alicia saw Reborn.

"Ciaossu."

3.

2.

1.

"SQUUEEEE!"

Seeing Reborn being turned into a doll by a girl who had only just turned eleven was hilarious. Once they finished recording his expression the two on the wall started laughing their asses off.

Tsuna poked his head in from where they were doing the day's homework.

"Did one of the other Arcobaleno show up again? Because I thought that you posted a warning with the few who hadn't run into her before about that habit of hers," he asked.

"No way would we spoil the fun of seeing Reborn caught off guard like that!" said Colonello howling.

Lal had a similar look on her face when it happened.

"Ciaossu," said Reborn, once he got over his shock.

Tsuna blinked at his appearance, before sighing.

"Well at least we had a month to settle in before they sent you."

Reborn blinked.

Tsuna finished what he was doing before getting up.

"The room for the Arcobaleno, if you're willing to share, is in the lower levels. Mukuro has them fixed so they show whatever outside scene you want, but you'll have to bribe him if you want something creative. If you don't like sharing, you can take one of the many extra rooms we have around here. You have to give us a ten minute forewarning before you engage in anything that would require large scale collateral damage, if only so we can seal off the area and avoid having to do any paperwork to repair it. Also, ignore the mad cackling and things that should not be known to man. Some things are easier just to ignore and pretend you didn't see anything."

"You're surprisingly calm about this."

"Well Xanxus-nii at least warned me that Federico was going to hold the position until I was in middle school when I could begin training, since he wouldn't be strong enough to be Decimo _and_ keep the family strong against outside threats. Besides, he was never interested in the title in the first place."

Tsuna had a rather odd glint in his eyes that made Reborn wary.

"Besides, I'd like to see you top the chaos that I attract in a single week," he said with a challenging glint.

Reborn smirked, and it wasn't a nice one.

"Challenge accepted."

"Oh, and if I catch you bullying Skull you will find all the coffee products in town mysteriously missing for a week. We do _not_ tolerate bullying and Nanoha takes exception to it. As in she will unleash hell on you if she finds out," said Tsuna matter of fact.

One look at her smiling face made Reborn shiver.

White Devil indeed.

"Call me that again and you'll be my new target practice for a month," she said, eyes narrowing.

"She also has a sixth sense to her 'nickname' Belphegor so...lovingly... gave her," snickered Tsuna.

Within a week Reborn had the most amusing put out expression on his face.

Colonello, Fon, Verde and Skull were all openly laughing about it, and so was Viper when she was sent a picture.

There was chaos, and then there was _chaos_. And much to his open disappointment, Tsuna was a veritable magnet for the sort of chaos he had only dreamed about.

How was he supposed to top the sheer insanity that Tsuna attracted on a good day? It wasn't fair!

At least he had a group of students who were more than happy to actually _listen_ to him as a home tutor, even if he mostly just needed to catch Tsuna up on his responsibilities as a Mafia Don.

* * *

Reborn stared at Tsuna, mostly in disbelief.

"Could you repeat that. I thought I just heard utter insanity."

"I asked if you wanted to join us on a trip to Mid Childa."

"And Mid Childa is..."

"A different world. There's a lot of stuff we didn't exactly tell Nono because of the bad choices he's been making lately. Besides, we're running low on supplies for Verde and Xanxus asked us to pick up his order."

"Uh-huh. You do realize other worlds is a bunch of fiction, right?"

Colonello and the other Arcobaleno grinned at Reborn.

"Oh you have no idea..." said Colonello grinning.

Hayato was already grinning and couldn't wait to go. Lindy had laughed herself sick when she heard how "enthusiastic" Hayato was about "U.M.A.'s" right before they revealed they were technically aliens by Earth's perspective.

He actually fainted when he first visited Mid Childa the first time.

Reborn was openly skeptical, but was willing to humor them. To be fair, Zafira and Aruf hadn't exactly introduced themselves to him yet.

And he had yet to meet Zwei, Tsuna's answer to Hayate's desire to be right next to him the next time all hell broke loose.

They still didn't know how the hell Mary got 'Reinforce Eins' knocked up, just that "Reinforce Zwei" had all of the original and a select number of the 'absorbed' spells from the book and was specifically set to work only for Hayate Yagami.

Reborn sat easily on Tsuna's shoulder, as the other Arcobaleno quickly took their own spots. Skull was in Alicia's arms, while Fon sat on her shoulder. Colonello, unsurprisingly, had taken to sitting on Nanoha's shoulder.

She was like the little sister he never knew he wanted, but absolutely adored.

"Teleport set?" asked Tsuna.

"We are ready to go," confirmed Signum.

"Dimensional Transfer!"

There was a flash of light, and Reborn had to shield his eyes from it...but what he saw when he opened them had his jaw drop and the other four openly snickering at Reborn's reaction.

"Either this is one hell of a Mist Illusion..."

"Zafira, Aruf, you switch back now," said Fate.

"Finally! It's such a pain hiding my ears all the time!" said Aruf with relief.

Reborn stared. And stared.

"It looks like we broke him," grinned Nanoha.

"We really need to get you to spend less time with Belphegor," sighed Fate.

Or at the very least convince Mammon to quit encouraging Nanoha's trolling habit. She already had the Cloud Division terrified of the color pink...and this was before she was officially acknowledged as the Cloud Officer.

As it was, Hibari was looking like a very solid candidate as Tsuna's Cloud Guardian, since he planned to loan Nanoha to Xanxus until he found one of his own.

Which wasn't likely.

"Fate-chan! Are you here for the entrance exams?" called Caren. She was from the Belka Church, and one of the few who helped Fate fill out her application forms.

"Ah, no. I'm going for the summer sessions, at least until things settle down back home," said Fate.

Reborn looked at Tsuna.

"Fate plans to become a TSAB Enforcer like her brother Chrono, since Chrome and Mukuro are my twin Mists. Nanoha is going to the Varia as their Cloud officer unless Xanxus-nii attracts a Cloud of his own and to help keep Belphegor in line. It's going to result in some interesting scheduling," he shrugged.

"What about Alicia, Xanxus' daughter?"

"She's my 'official' Lightning, since it's safer than having her around the Varia all the time."

"Safer for who?" asked Reborn.

Tsuna had an angelic smile that felt so fake it was almost hilarious.

"She may or may not have taken after her adopted father far too much, and for the sake of a certain old man's sanity Xanxus agreed to let her stay with our family as a way to bridge relations between the Vongola and the Varia. Unofficially we're waiting for him to realize she truly is her father's daughter."

The group split up, with some of the girls going to visit Yuuno in the library while Tsuna took Reborn with him while he picked up Xanxus' order.

In exchange for discreetly "helping" whenever they couldn't send their own people in, the TSAB authorized Xanxus to make his own Devices which required a special license. He had to take a very long series of classes to learn how to handle his new toys, but it was entirely worth it.

This was something not even his adopted father or that idiot Iemitsu could take from him. Something that had nothing to do with his profession as an assassin.

"Ah, Tsuna-kun! Are you here to pick up your brother's order?"

"Xanxus-nii is a bit busy for the next week, and we were heading her for Verde anyway. This is Reborn, my new home tutor."

"Greetings! Is he like Verde then?"

"Yeah."

Before Reborn or Tsuna could say anything, they got a panicked call from Lindy.

" _TSUNA! TELL YOUR CRAZY SISTER TO STOP DESTROYING THE TRAINING GROUNDS!"_

Tsuna picked up the call immediately.

"What happened?"

Lindy had the most irritated face he had seen in some time.

" _Some of the rookies wanted to see why they call Nanoha the White Devil and she was more than happy to show them...and then that insane idiot Colonello got into it with a sniping class..."_

"And the two of them started competing and caused wide spread destruction trying to beat each other," sighed Tsuna. He looked at Reborn. "How good a shot are you?"

"I'm the World's Number One Hit Man. What do you think?" said Reborn sarcastically.

"Do you have any skill with mid air targets and snipers? Non-lethal, I mean?"

"Maybe... why?"

Tsuna had an evil smirk on his face.

"I'm going to arm you with paint balls and a basic device that lets you fly. Your mission is simple enough... get those two idiots to knock it off with as much chaos as you want."

Reborn had the most evil grin on his face.

"I have the feeling we're going to have a lot of fun together."

"Remember, dodge the pink!" said Tsuna.

Fon watched the cackling Reborn acting as a distraction for Nanoha and Colonello, and looked at Tsuna with awe.

"You are evil. There's no way they're not going to schedule this and make it a regular thing now."

"As long as I don't have to fill out paperwork for it or pay for damage, they can do this as often as they damn well please. If I can put up with the headaches that come from Nanoha's boyfriend, I can live with Reborn," said Tsuna flatly.

"You are wise beyond your years, Tsuna-kun," said Fon.

"No, I just learned to adjust to crazy in my life."

"Do you miss it? Your life before all this started?"

"Gods no. I would rather have my life now than what it could have been if that man had his way. I can live with crazy... but normal? I'd be bored within a few weeks," said Tsuna. Fon smirked at him.

" _You're going down, Reborn!"_

" _Payback time, kora!"_

"NO EXPLOSIVES!" Tsuna called out. Hearing them pout, he gave them a look.

On the plus side, they were no longer causing wide spread collateral damage, since the two explosive nuts were focused more on taking out Reborn.


End file.
